Plastic Potters Melamine Plate
It established the tacky domestic
decor when money was tight
and infants crawled the floors;
its stylized oriental floral
pattern quickly faded,
and it cracked or failed
to bounce on the kitchen floor,
becoming cat bowls or saucers for
plant pots for a time, surviving
as reminders of former family,
previous trips to the Melmac boutique,
old flats, old injuries, dead pets.
From Select Things. Ellsworth, Maine, Backwoods Broadsides, 2001
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