All in by Diane K. Martin
by Diane K. Martin
The night is almost too quiet.
His snore is the exhaust of a semi
roaring down the two-lane. The dog
at her water bowl is a summer lake
lapping the silt beach. And the woman
—big glasses, denim jeans, hair
pulled back with a scarf—holds
a yellow pencil in her teeth.
The woman is the poem.
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Diane K. Martin has published work in SWWIM Every Day, American Poetry Review, Field, Kenyon Review, Tin House, Plume, and many other print and online journals. Her poems have been included in Best New Poets and have received a Pushcart Special Mention. Her first collection, Conjugated Visits, a National Poetry Series finalist, was published in 2010 by Dream Horse Press. Her second book, Hue & Cry, is forthcoming from MadHat Press in September, 2019.
by Diane K. Martin
Tucking the wings back under the bird’s body must have resurrected
her, because there was Mom, already chopping onions. We didn’t talk
about my lifestyle, my father, or the burnt-to-a crisp skin of my brilliant
career, nor did we chat about the time she stuffed the turkey with Saltines
because they were on sale at Raley’s, and everyone got so thirsty we all
got drunk, even the children. We didn’t reminisce about past Thanksgivings,
like the time I arrived late and my brother slammed the table and roared,
“We are not going to save her any goddamn salad.” Mom made a point
of reminding me that she set out a half grapefruit for my appetizer,
because I’m allergic to shrimp. We didn’t mention her bad heart—or mine.
We just chopped, boiled, simmered, stewed, sliced, roasted, and sautéed
in butter, and then twisted the turkey wing and tucked it under the body
of the bird, even though it meant breaking the bones a little bit to do it.
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Diane K. Martin’s work has appeared in American Poetry Review, Field, Kenyon Review, Tin House, Plume, and many other journals. Her poems have been included in Best New Poets and have received a Pushcart Special Mention. Her first collection, Conjugated Visits, a National Poetry Series finalist, was published in 2010 by Dream Horse Press. Her second book, Hue & Cry, is forthcoming from MadHat Press in September, 2019.
