Commerce (from Fingerling Lakes)
Mom’s paying me
in cinnamon rolls
to help her at
the Bake Sale
in the Church’s milky
cinderblock basement
She’s got on
her Fuck You pearls
which she fingers
like a necklace
of fertilized skulls
as she narrates
each mother
who simpers at us and says
she really shouldn’t
That’s Shelly Greer
who used to
call me a cloven beast
in 9th grade
Meg Bowden was
the Treasurer for
The Black Goat
of the Woods
Ladies’ Auxiliary
until certain irregularities
were discovered
in the books
She nods at a peroxide specimen
who palpates her collarbones
as if they’re broken
Deb Unger had to be restrained
from eating makeup
when she was pregnant
And Kelly Stivers
nervously warned me
that her daughter’s baby might
not be
as she said
strictly Caucasian
I stifle my giggles
Mom you have enough dope
to take down half
the town
She’s suddenly stern
Listen now
Midwives have to maintain
operational security
There’s no other choice
when you get that close
to a vagina
in a professional capacity
The Whisper Network
is nothing but
mutually assured destruction
A lot of female friendships too
Which you’ll find out
if my private satisfactions
become public