Poems by Margaret D. Stetz
By Margaret D. Stetz
between the brittle pastries
with thousand-layer bases
dark prune puddles
hardening on ceramic stands
the thin grey tiger cat, a mouser,
patrolled through stacks of cookies
reeking of old butter
leaping so lightly on the counter
that flies barely moved
Frannie—was that the cat’s name
or the baker’s?
a woman in a handsewn apron
hair enclosed in netting
lean wiry silent
like her companion
intent on work
I watched them when
I fled the hands of rage at home
and lingered on the other side
of storefront glass
gazing, craving sweetness
not the taste of tarts
swollen with that sluggish paste
but a future built
on order, safety and collaboration
an aged cat
an aged woman
life routine and settled
like the powdery dust
before me:
sugar, glistening
“Shelter”
By Margaret D. Stetz
glass canopy awash with rain
people huddle without speaking
and in the farthest corner
where shelter ends
my foot next to a crumpled leaf
but not a leaf when I look down—
a mouse
as shrinking shivering together
small bundles all of skin hair fur
we wait until
storm over
we each go silently
and separately
though never
separate
“Leashes (New York City, 1960)”
By Margaret D. Stetz
their dogs were always
puffballs pointed foxlike snouts
teeth that snapped
their owners proud
on daily strolls in groups
they reminisced
(worlds they’d left behind were always better)
the code was minding one’s own business
no matter what, no matter that
they watched each day
a woman
with unkempt and graying braid
her face looked young
despite its smear of dirt
its knotted muscles
open mouth and growling sounds
she paced, a tree branch in one hand
swung side to side to clear her path
the other grasping one end of a strap
tied round his chest to bind
a boy my own age
never seen in school
he looked ahead, he did not speak
(did he know how?)
and if he walked too fast
she
struck him—
I heard the blows
I saw the bruises
neighbors moved aside
to let them pass
went silent for a moment
and then
resumed their chat
about the happy past in villages
patted one another’s
Pomeranians
(carefully—these were known to nip a finger)
reached into pockets, laughing
and made their dogs
on leashes
leap
to snatch a treat
- Margaret D. Stetz is the Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women’s Studies
at the University of Delaware, as well as the Poetry Editor of The John
Steinbeck Review (a Pennsylvania State University Press journal). She is
also a widely published poet, whose work has appeared in numerous anthologies
and journals ranging from Review Americana and Full Bleed to The
Irenaut and Hanging Loose.