~
Decorum
Never clean a cast-iron skillet
with soap. Foil your pie crust.
Keep the ketchup in the fridge
and mix the meatloaf with your
fingers; sex is work. Don’t overbeat
the muffin batter; sex is a bargaining
chip. Do you know your worth?
Salt your coffee when it’s cheap.
Keep some rice in the bottom
of your table shaker and your sugar
bowl. Add sugar to your tea; sex
is easy. Sugar your peaches
and your spaghetti sauce; marry
a mechanic. Beat your bread dough
until it bleeds; marry a plumber.
Apple cider vinegar cleans everything.
Use a slip stitch to hem and don’t drop
your straight pins. Never use the good
scissors on paper, and sometimes,
when you say yes, have conditions.
~
Sara Baxter was born and raised in Richmond, Indiana. She teaches creative writing and freshman composition at Miami University. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Miami University and an MA in English from Indiana University.