Emerson Review Volume 51

Page 53

O D E TO YA R M O U T H P O E T RY

Am an d a D e t t m ann i was mothered by sober women who gathered at book club to drink wine & whine about this printing press town this brick mill in Maine this waiting list yoga class sneaker-filled with sand in imperfect

& blank checks their hands Botoxed origami air Abbi didn’t get into her top college

Emma keeps inserting tampons in the wrong hole holy moly mothers with artichoke dip rosaries wet wiped marble counters those little butter knives that fit in manicured grips Got peachy keen topcoat today All out of lipstick promise, Shelley SUVs on lease parked in my driveway like bowling alley bumpers report cards sunken in Grade A leather seats Did you hear about Hannah? vodka at Clam Festival

the daughter who drank too much then drove her high school friends

home Did you hear Reddi-wipped with jesus

her brother’s balding at twenty? PTA sundaes these hairless skiing

mothers who come back of sunscreened tans the color of expired go at birth

from Sugarloaf smelling Goldfish how can they let

& stop & slow down when this town predicts your future Ivy League valedictorians volunteering

at soup kitchens for resumes for Instagram the day i turn eighteen i knock on Tracy Glessner’s historic house smell her daughter’s

ribs

hanging above the evergreen fireplace my friend it’s time for dinner come downstairs & pray for me

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