into her hair
thick white library paste
smeared
into her face
daddy long-legs
shaken
into her fist
snot-coated tissues
shoved
and
her skirt
splattered with
Kool-Aid
the cherry kind
blood-colored
so hard to wash out
even after soaking
for decades
in shame
memories that
smell like garbage
uncollected
after half a century
what can this poem—
any poem—
cleanse?
Margaret D. Stetz is the Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Delaware, as well as a widely published poet.