Endearment

  Paw, tap, step.West was steep,wet—sweat,pee. Swap:east was awe,a tease. We—a pet ape, a weeewe, a wasp—sat at tea, at ease.We wepta sea, a spate,sweet pea.____Anna Lena Phillips is poetry editor of Fringe and associate editor for book reviews at American Scientist magazine. Her poems appear most recently in BlazeVOX, International Poetry Review, and the Anthology of Appalachian Writers. Of late she has also been calling square dances and making jam out of any fruit she can forage. Notes on the Endearments can be found at http://theendearments.wordpress.com.