Madam Lev

Take one pint of water, add a half pound of sugar, the juice of eight lemons the zest of half lemon
Pour the water from one jug, then into the other, several times
Strain through a clean napkin
Grandmother, the alchemist
You spun gold out of this hard life
Conjured beauty from the things left behind
Found healing where it did not live
Discovered the antidote in your own kitchen
Broke the curse with your own two hands
You passed these instructions down to your daughter
Who then passed it down to her daughter
:My grandma said
-Nothing real can be threatened-