Jenna Cardinale

Widow

It would be easier
to not do
the dishes,

to knot up
the socks of good
wishes. Could the maid-

the one who polishes
the silver pot, the hot
oven- be misunderstood,

be made for motherhood.
Should I squat daily
next to my husband, my

adjoining plot. But I tend
my spotted goldfishes
and wonder, besides children,

what I've got.

 

Jenna Cardinale has recently published poems in Epiphany, Unpleasant Event Schedule and La Petite Zine. New work will appear in 6x6 and Puppy Flowers. She lives in the Bronx, where she teaches poetry to the elementary school crowd.

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