William Carlos Williams, volume II By Janette Schafer

This is just to say

if you had written

more like this, steeped

in affection, tongue

firmly in cheek,

lush enough to taste

cold fruit in my mouth,

I could have 

even loved you—

but since you didn’t,

keep your hands

off my 

fucking

plums.

Janette Schafer is a poet, photographer, playwright, and realtor living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She holds an MFA in poetry from Chatham University. She is the author of three collections of poetry and the chief editor of two poetry anthologies. Her writing and photographs have appeared in numerous journals, newspapers, and websites, including Vox Populi, The Missouri Review, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Eunoia Review. She is a winner of the Academy of American Poets Prize.