This poem first appeared in The Echo.
A box of cereal, stale, ants running
Up the side, two brown bananas that
He says cleanse the pores
(If rubbed thoroughly),
An unwrapped chocolate bar
And a plethora of cans, unopened:
In a locked pantry, Little Maddy sits
Plucking the stems
Off Granny-Smiths. Just ten more
Minutes. Maddy, weary, wondering
Just when daddy would come home.
Time: the pantry is unlocked
And out comes light
And apples and, lastly, Maddy.
Daddy reaches
For the two rotting bananas,
Notes can upon unopened can,
Unwraps the chocolate bar,
Smears chocolate on his fingers,
Stops, thinks how unlikely it is
For apples to lose their stems.
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