Delmarva Review: Place Setting by Katherine J. Williams

Editor’s Note: “Place Setting” was nominated for a 2023 Pushcart Prize in poetry.

Author’s Note: I am old in a world that seems to be falling apart. Many have lifted off for other realms, and of those who are left on this blue planet, multitudes are at the mercy of wars and natural disasters. This poem attempts to celebrate the privilege of clean water, of domestic rituals that briefly draw humans together. And it asks the questions: Why here? Why now? Why me?

Place Setting

My favorite — the chubby salad fork,
perfectly formed to hold a slippery leaf
of butter lettuce or a golden bite
of almond cake. I set it to the left
of the mat, right of the dinner fork
like a priest preparing the sacrament.

The silver candlesticks turn dim so soon
it’s almost as though the dark is in there,
waiting to come out when I turn my back.
At the sink, my hands cup pink polish
as the unacknowledged oath of water
fills the bowl. Someone in Aleppo
dips her finger in a broken jar
to wet the lips of her little girl.

The radio voice attuned to death
intones lives lost, homes folding
as the earth convulsed. My heart
does its new bump and flutter
that the doctor says he’s “watching”
and for a minute I’m looking down
on my little house in this placid street
after the streetlights have flicked on.
Friends outside the door are knocking.
How is it I am here holding old blue napkins
that fold themselves from years of use?

⧫

Katherine Williams, from Washington, DC, is a retired clinical psychologist and art therapist. She is an Associate Professor Emerita at George Washington University, where she directed the MFA program in art therapy. Her clinical articles on art therapy have appeared in The American Journal of Art Therapy and Art Therapy. In addition to the Delmarva Review, her poems have been published in Poet Lore, The Northern Virginia Review, 3rd Wednesday, Voices, The Poet’s Cookbook, The Widows Handbook, and Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection edited by James Crews. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

The Delmarva Review is a literary journal, published in St. Michaels, Maryland, founded to offer all writers a desirable home in print (with a digital edition) to feature their most compelling new poetry and prose to discerning audiences everywhere. This is a time when many commercial print publications (and literary magazines) have closed their doors or are reducing literary content. For each annual edition, the editors have read thousands of submissions to select the best of new poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. The review is available from online booksellers and regional specialty bookstores. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, support comes from tax-deductible contributions and a grant from Talbot Arts with funds from the Maryland State Arts Council. Website: www.DelmarvaReview.org