Frost in the Low Areas

~
Frost in the Low Areas, a collection of poetry by Karen Skolfield (Zone 3 Press, 2013). 

They've turned back to the food, what's left

of the warm brie.  These are not the people

you want between you and the lifeboats.
--From "Where Babies Come From," p. 3, originally published in Zone 3.

 

Mistake one: driving by two cemeteries when the kids

are tired.  Mistake two: saying only some people get

buried.  Where are the others, my son asks.   
--From "Rumors of Her Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated," p. 31, originally published in BOXCAR Poetry Review (Spring 2011) and later in the 2011 Best of the Net Anthology.  

..the students act as if they were being pressed

to death.  As if the rest of their lives were cheery

and full of volunteer work and perfect omelettes.  
--From "Sturm und Drang," p. 34, originally published in Conte (Volume 7, Issue 1). 

The note said that my pea seeds

are infected with pea weevils, many

apologies, here's a refund...

They're next to a big hunk

of meat and every time I open the freezer

I startle, like the time my daughter

froze her toys, the eyes

of a baby doll staring, rime-rimmed. 
--From "Disposal," pp. 63-64, originally published in Used Furniture Review (September 5, 2012).