I was just introduced to the work of Deja Earley, a BYU grad who recently finished a PhD in creative writing at the University of Southern Mississippi. She's published quite a few poems on the web (see here, here, and here for a start) and, interestingly enough, our poems are back to back in the Spring 2006 issue of Irreantum (a fact I only just realized).
Tenuous connections aside, I give you Earley's "Housewife for Halloween," which I've chosen 1) for its brevity---it's only four lines long---and 2)because it made me laugh, especially as I thought about the whole notion of parenthood as playing a role (if I get asked "You playing Mom?" one more time, I'll...), even if that role may be an unconventional one, as suggested by the plunger the poet tows through this "school carnival"---I mean, a plunger's not something I usually associate with housewifery, but I guess it fits: a wife can't always wait for her husband or the plumber to plunge that clogged drain. This wife, I suppose, is independent, a do-it-yourselfer, and, I'm sure, low maintenance to boot.
What more could a husband ask for?
Earley's got two poems on the page I'm linking you to; but I wanted to highlight "Housewife" because, well, poetry---even poetry by Mormons---just needs to be really short and fun sometimes.
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