Jen Grace Stewart
Keeping House
Snow and a slice of moon, two planets dotted
like a question mark ask: can you still live?
Yes—without—even that. But in half-
light, filtered through cloud, or milk wrung
through cloth. A reduction. The clock
winds up and ticks out the hours. I keep
the windows clean and the baskets emptied.
Running the dishrag over the vinyl countertop
my hands think of the crumb of your mole
dotted above your curved brow, your face
upturned and close at my chest,
my thumb trying and trying to wipe it away.
Jen Grace Stewart is a writer, editor, and educator from Colorado. She teaches writing and rhetoric at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and for St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in South Florida. Her first collection of poetry, Madonna, Complex, was published by Cascade Books in 2020 as part of its long-running Poiema Poetry Series. She has also published two chapbooks of poetry, Latch (2019, River Glass Books) and Visitations (2015, Finishing Line Press). Her poems have recently appeared in the Colorado Review, AGNI and EcoTheo Review. Jen is a reviewer for Whale Road Review, and was interim editor at Ruminate Magazine where she currently serves on the Board of Directors.
