Pie Shop | Kelli Lage

discount cutlery at the grocery store / a pair of gold forks and spoons / added to our kitchen drawer / piercing homemade desserts / my husband smells like saviors after dusk / Saturday / red stools at the lone diner / he orders apple pie / I ask him / to what end does cinnamon seek? / he showed me glory under golden crust / a plate slid to me / blueberry pie / in a glaze of midnight / as a young girl / I always dreamed / I would take a road trip / winding up in an unknown small town / a place where everyone knew / the exact spot / of the chipped paint / on the mayor’s shed / I’d stumbled into a pie shop / I’ve never seen a pie shop / but I believed in this one / inside / an elderly couple sat / their love as hungry as wolves / their stomach as full as Thanksgiving day / I sauntered up / asking to hear stories / of what they’d seen / what they’d tasted / asking if the fresh spring ever runs dry / they chortled / and spoke soft hums / I never looked down / at their order / now I know / there sat an apple pie / next to blueberry

Kelli Lage lives in the Midwest countryside with her husband, and dog, Cedar. Lage is currently earning her degree in Secondary English Education. Lage states she is here to give readers words that resonate. Awards: Special Award for First-time Entrant, Lyrical Iowa.