Bounty Fills the Body

Poetry

Sep 4

Written By Megan Stewart

soul food is

golden brown, melt in mouths, meals for tongues to tickle

raindrops, toss mixtures of tasty melodies, black folks

finger down every bite in their bellies because

what we layer, test on the tip, swirl, sweat for sweeter

satisfaction or season to sit on our stomachs, it steals

away the nasty portions life gives, we colored

customers come and communicate at the table, we

know the buds within our throats thrive by the

pounds as our beautiful brass skin simmers, scavenger

scanner scraps off unwanted pieces, peels beneath the

base of our pans, our pots, banging the emptiness, but

my mahogany members are removed, ready to

take part in the final facet for hunger dissipation,

a hush, a hum, a hue lifts into the inward me, where all

who wait, recognize the importance, the best cuisine bells

the cure for discomfort

love is soul food

Traci Neal is a neurodivergent poet residing in Columbia, South Carolina. Neal has shared her poetic journey and late diagnosis in USA Today, Newsweek, Good News Post- UK, and The New York Times, to name a few. In 2025, she had over 50 poems published in 40 different publications. On March 11, 2026, an excerpt of Neal's poem, along with writers A Memi Sei and Brittany J. Green, was part of the Letters to America project to highlight America 250 from the black woman's perspective. The words were composed into a song sung by Soprano Karen Slack at Carnegie Hall.