Am I Vesta by Karen Krotzer
Am I Vesta? No.
No eternal virgin am I.
Married to my own Vulcan,
A craftsman by trade,
A master of the industrial arts
Who has forged with fire,
But mostly has built with wood.
The union of our loins
Producing fruits of our labor.
Mostly my own labor,
Of course, times two,
As my Vulcan god
Cheered me on each time,
But equally sharing parental duties.
No, I am not Vesta,
Though I do manage our home.
I take my role seriously
As mother and wife,
Especially enjoying cooking
And baking for others
When I have time.
As a working woman
I have become a master
Of multi-tasking. All at once I
Have held simultaneous roles as
Mother, wife, teacher, and student.
What a precarious and challenging
Balancing act they all can be!
Though I can relate to
Having one foot out of
The fire into the frying pan,
I feel more akin to
The Cat in the Hat as he
Juggles multiple items while
Balancing on that ball.
That seems much more
True to my life because
Life is not easy;
Life is messy.
No, I am not Vesta,
Though in the eyes of
Others, I hope to be.
Karen Krotzer, an elementary teacher who grew up in Lancaster, PA, now lives in Manassas, VA. She has been published in school literary and art magazines in both high school and in college, by Great Lakes Poetry Press, the Tom Byrd Institute, Hutton Publications which nominated a poem for the Pushcart Prize, several publications through Local Gems Press, and online at The RavensPerch.
