Thanks to my Gauntlet-mate Eileen Rush for the prompt that led to this poem.
Self-portrait as a trivet
in a child’s hands I went from cool
slab of shapeless clay to thick
disk, ornamented with patterned
impressions of fork and crayon and pen
cap, then painted a bright favorite
orange, sealed with glaze, and made
firm and finally useful by prolonged
exposure to intense heat
This is what I imagined my daughter was thinking last weekend.
Third week of online college classes from home
What is it with parents
and cleaning? Today
mine are washing the patio
furniture like Jesus himself
is coming over for a cookout.



