Saturday, July 27, 2024

ENDORSEMENT

by Judy Rowe Michaels


The end for US President Joe Biden's election hopes was quick and unfolded in almost total secrecy—but Vice President Kamala Harris was ready… Harris "took time to arrange both lunch and dinner for the assembled aides," the source said… "The menu was salad and sandwiches for lunch, and pizza and salad for dinner. The Vice President's pizza came with anchovies, her go-to topping." —AFP, July 23, 2024


My late husband loved
anchovies. I do not.
But Kamala orders anchovies on her
pizza. Good enough for me,
though their salty, abominably
fishy slime does war with my
basic food groups—oatmeal,
Caesar wrap, lox with
schmeer. I have not tried
anchovy as finger food
for my Maine Coon cat,
but Larkin, long-time Democat,
will doubtless rise to
the occasion on his long hind legs
and prance. The smell alone
should do it. No need
to tell him they're endorsed
by the President-Elect.


Judy Rowe Michaels is, clearly, an optimist. A six-time cancer survivor, she speaks about ovarian cancer to medical school classes as part of the national organization Survivors Teaching Students. A retired English teacher and poet in residence, and a poet for the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, she has published four poetry collections, most recently This Morning the Mountain, and three books on teaching poetry and creative writing. She has received residencies from Hedgebrook, MacDowell, and the Banff Centre for the Arts. For over twenty years, Michaels has been a member of Cool Women, a monthly critique group that gives readings and publishes group anthologies.