Marge and Adie
I have two bears, small and hatted,
made in Germany, dressed in buttons and berries,
that I have named Marge and Adie
in honor of my father’s parents, my grandparents.
They’re not soft or cuddly;
they are well-made, if a bit stiff,
vigilant with eyes alert and arms opened wide.
I don’t know how my grandparents felt
about repairing the lives of their children.
Their love was silent,
steeped in the smell of church pews.
……
This poem is from the chapbook Lineage by Karen Betz Mastracchio (Finishing Line Press), and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/lineage-by-karen-betz-mastracchio/
By keeping journals and short writing assignments along with her high school students, Karen Mastracchio sowed the seeds from which her poetry emerged. After years of teaching the joy and craft of writing to others, Karen invested time in harvesting what had been dormant. She joined fellow poets at Poets Northwest and started sharing her poetry, submitting here and there. Karen’s poetry has been published in several anthologies including The Texas Poetry Calendar and NFSPS Encore Prize Poems. Her first chapbook, Seasoned, was released in 2022 through Finishing Line Press.
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