✨ Anniversary Poem
A scoop of sugar ...
Anniversary Poem
Cream in the pitcher.
A scoop of sugar in your mug.
The red tea kettle on the burner.
Two blue chairs.
Sit here with me. Draw your chair
nearer. Reach toward
your right side.
My left hand reaches too.
The scratchy surface of your face.
Silver shoots of hair, heat.
Our tangled bedsheets witness
two happy sighs.
Hear the quiet river water.
Black tree shadow.
A soft, light midnight.
My pink skin seared with bliss.
Wrap yourself around me.
Be my hide, while I burrow
further into
your warm life.
—Katie Kalisz
From Flu Season, forthcoming from Cornerstone Press, Copyright © 2025. Used by permission of the poet. Photo by huy le, Creative Commons, via Unsplash.
To the bricklayer and the seamstress
who eloped and spent sixty-one years
together on God's green earth
Blessed with five children
and ten grands
twelve greats and counting
Laying flowers at their grave
thankful for that epitaph
"Thank you Lord for life and victory over death"