September 2024
Bio Note: My poems have appeared worldwide in literary journals such as One Art, Amsterdam Quarterly and About Place Journal, to name a few. Just before the pandemic my chapbook, What She Was Wearing, was released. Ten years ago my husband and I co-founded The Poetry Box press, where I’m also the managing editor of The Poeming Pigeon. I’m a proud mother of three amazing humans and Nana to one darling baby girl.
Author's Note: The Black Krim is a popular heirloom tomato that originated in the Crimean Peninsula and is often referred to as a Russian Black Krim.
Author's Note: The Black Krim is a popular heirloom tomato that originated in the Crimean Peninsula and is often referred to as a Russian Black Krim.
Who am I to say we don’t
need more tomatoes, or to argue
the plot too small for one more
heirloom? When I gorge on too many
Black Krims, I become my grandmother,
the one who hid her Russian roots from
the neighbors, from me. I fry the bacon
you brought home for sandwiches, grease
splatter singes my thumb, I watch you
through a window over the sink, cool
water soothing my burn, as you push
your finger deep into the soil and whisper
to the not-quite-ripe orbs: There, there now,
you’re just a little thirsty, and then hum them
happy before you come inside to show off
your bounty, flashing me your satisfied
smile. I inhale the musky loam of you
and take your finger into my mouth
I taste the summer sun and your salt.
Cards Win!
~circa 2011
I’m stuck in Sacramento
for a B2B meet-n-greet.
At every opportunity, I sneak
back to the bar’s big TV.
No one in California
cares about the World Series—
St. Louis Cardinals vs. Texas Rangers.
I have to slip the barkeep a twenty
to switch the channel to Game Seven!
No one cares that I’m crying
on the phone with my dad, trying
to share every last joy with him
that I can. My manager signals,
wants me back with the group.
Time for my dog & phony show—
how each referral-based biz needs
our new phone app to succeed.
I was promised a new iPad
for my record-breaking night
of new sales. I hated using
that iPad. When I quit, two months
later, I gave it to Goodwill.
But first, I deleted that app.
An Urgent Message
for My Fellow Word Nerds
Hear ye, hear ye—
The Punctuation War
has finally come
to a full stop.
Factions supporting
and factions against
the ever polarizing
Oxford comma have
signed a treaty at last.
Let us praise this new mark
of creative freedom—
“ , la ”
Festoon your banners
and paint the town blue.
Say her name out loud.
Come along, my friends.
It’s a brand-new day.
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