Debbie Olson

A Love-Hate Relationship

I stir but you splash, your oil separated, sliding over the sides of the jar onto my fingers. You end up in places you have no business. Just yesterday, I found a dried dollop of you between the insert and delete keys.

As a child, I loved you smeared between two slices of Wonder bread. Now it’s more complicated than just stir and enjoy.

old photograph
the sound of her powder compact
clicking shut

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About the Author

Debbie Olson’s poetry has appeared in Acorn, Akitsu, bottle rockets, Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Presence, Poetry Pea, and Prune Juice, among other journals, and The Red Moon Anthology of English-Language Haiku. She lives in New York State.

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