PLUGS AND SOCKETS

Even Freud would agree
sometimes an electrical plug
is just a plug and a wall socket is just
a socket, not little penises
destined to be stuck into gaping vaginas,
as the bin of outlet adapters at the hardware store
the electronics parts catalog
the DIY fan installation kit
the webpage describing D-sub connector soldering
the extension cord label
the electrical diagram that came stuck to your new dryer
the sales guy at Home Depot
your copy of Practical Electrical Wiring
your co-worker who smirks as he proffers his box of cords and cables
your electrical engineering instructor who explains "coupling" during lab class
your boss who demonstrates how to "connect" while breathing down
your neck
your electrician who comes to your house when
you're alone
your father who prattles mindlessly on while you help rewire his garage
would all suggest.
As if the violence of the thing
wasn't designed to make you squirm.

Beth Ann Workmaster is a poet and horticulture researcher in Madison, Wisconsin, originally from the New York shores of Lake Ontario. This is her second publication; the first was in The Midwest Review (unless you count multiple years of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets Calendar). When she is not sowing inspiration via cut up dictionaries, Pigma Micron pens, colored pencils, and watercolors, she is seeking a home for her first chapbook.

© 2020