A 2009 Poetry Contest Finalist, From The Southeast Review Volume 28.1

Sometimes we forget
There are potatoes
Resting in the cupboard below.
They become wide-eyed with neglect.

Sometimes we remember potatoes.
In the middle of the night
We sit up suddenly and with an
“Oh, my,”
Vow to cook them the following day.

The mysterious potatoes
Hide in the cupboard.
Darkness suits their purpose.
Thick-skinned, so very tuberous,
They defy our omnivorous intent.

Starch is a many-splendored thing.
It waits patiently for us,
Unlike the quick-turning protein,
Until we are ready to accept its substance,
Like a communion wafer,
In the name of roughage, comfort and nutrition.

Tina Karelson lives in the Minneapolis area, where she works as a creative director in an advertising agency. She often brags about her family, her MA in English from the University of Minnesota, and the time—the single time, many years ago—she won on Jeopardy! Her writing has appeared in Main Channel Voices and Mystery Readers Journal.