Each kiss was real once. It lodged in the throat,
flung out of a car. It sunk with a pink
sun, rose on damp mornings. It dropped its bike
near the high school track and ran instead
in insufficient shoes that left blisters.
It encouraged someone who never
had a chance. Ever. It shadowed the ones
who did but denied them entrance. Gathered
all the ingredients for cake, then screwed
up the measurements. Ate it anyway.
It was delicious.
Anne Dyer Stuart’s work is anthologized in Keystone Poetry: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania (Penn State University Press 2025) and her journal publications include NELLE, Pleiades, North American Review, AGNI, The American Journal of Poetry, Raleigh Review, Cherry Tree, Sugar House Review, The Texas Review, Louisiana Literature, New World Writing Quarterly, and The Louisville Review. She co-edited the anthology Rivers, Ridges, and Valleys: Essays on Rural Pennsylvania with Jerry Wemple (Catamont Press 2025), and she teaches at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania-Bloomsburg.