Dark and Light 

Roseann St. Aubin

The light over the old oven

is not strong enough

for her to read by.

It is 3 a.m. and

she is at the table that is

piled with fat tomatoes,

round as rosary beads.

She prays.

Soft is her Hail Mary.

Sharp are the shadows

that cut the kitchen

like a cake of dark and light.

If she could sleep this

would also be her dream.

One where she is caught

between what must be

and what she wants.

A dream where her mother visits,

sits near her at the table,

but does not speak.

There would be tomatoes but

then there would also be a knife

its edge gleaming in the light.

Roseann St.Aubin is a freelance writer, poet and master gardener living in Port Washington, Wisconsin. She had careers in journalism, city government and school public relations before retiring in 2012. Her work has been celebrated by the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, the Lakefly Writers Conference and has appeared in the Blue Heron Review. Roseann is working on her first chapbook. She is on Twitter @portgirl803 and on Instagram as roseannstaubin.