Olives I have a grocery list with olives on it. Meanwhile you have an issuance of pain aching somewhere in your left hip and the x-ray showed nothing but it makes you think of Esther. How tentatively I would step around her and she, mean in her broadcast, wide-shouldered through each game we played. Yes, I recall she needed to win every time. I’m going to make a big salad with your favorite marinated artichoke hearts and fresh dill dressing. Want to come over? We’ll walk to the pond—good exercise for you. Remember that old photo where she caught the biggest fish? It was the only instance you did not smile even though Pa told us to. He always said we should smile whatever storm blows at the door. I’ll mix up corn muffins from scratch. We’ll have a healthy meal.
About the Author: Jean Biegun’s poetry has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. In 2022, her chapbook HITCHHIKERS TO EDEN was published, she received a Pushcart Prize nomination and the Christine Award for Best Prose Poem of 2021(EASTERN IOWA REVIEW). Poems have been in AS IT OUGHT TO BE MAGAZINE, GYROSCOPE REVIEW, MUDDY RIVER POETRY REVIEW, AS ABOVE SO BELOW, UNBROKEN, and other places.
Image Credit: Image originally published in Pomologie française: Paris: Langlois et Leclercq, 1846. Public domain image courtesy of the Biodiversity Heritage Library
As It Ought To Be 