Saundra Rose Maley

It was wartime Daisies and Maisies in overalls Worked in factories Snapping gum in their teeth Ration spunk To keep them going Through weekend tours At the local USO Or late nights Checking hats For the Willard rooftop garden It was rough Making ends meet While their men were at war In radio worlds And newspaper print Nights at home were spent reading Letters over and over Like prayers Mouths shaped To the words And Hershey bars Melted on radiators

That summer night Was hot Steaming like a crab Luscious under the shell Televisions gone bleary Blinked In front of men In undershirts drinking beer Wives upstairs took showers Caught A glimpse of their backs In hallway mirrors I sat in the dark Invisible On the backporch Drinking in the night And it tasted good So good Going down And somebody like me Blew night through an alto sax Blew and blew His cooling breath His hot cool breath on me— And I came alive Glowing In the dark Listening like a fool