Challenging Poetry

why our phone conversations last so long

I asked her for a recipe
from our childhood, and she flipped
through hundreds of recipe cards (a
soft flutter in the background) while
she shared her children's latest joys
and her frustration with doctors
and how it felt living in the states again
and why didn't I have a job, yet, wasn't
I trying? and the latest book I simply
must read because it changed her life—so
much good advice (she doesn't have time
for fiction anymore) and how her husband
enjoys his job and her exercise regime
and by the time I copied the recipe down
on my own card, my head hurt so
that I couldn't make it today.

April 20—Book report—subtly (or overtly) incorporate a book report or response into a poem about something else. (If you name the book, avoid spoilers!)