Mary Koles is an M.F.A. at American University, where she is lucky enough to write poetry and fiction under the generous mentorship of Kyle Dargan, David Keplinger, Richard McCann, and Jay Melder. She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2005, then taught high school in Nashville and Philadelphia, where she was the grateful recipient of a UPENN Fellowship for ESL Educators. Mary currently serves as academic coordinator for SpiderSmart Learning Center in Bethesda. She can think of nothing more delicious for her soul than jazz piano, her students, olives, and any time spent with her inimitable friends and family.
Winner of the Gerald Stern Poetry Prize
He was a listless puff
of unwashed blond. You imagine
all unkempt boys after him
to be named Caleb,
to have sullen, rail-thin mothers
with frizzy hair.
When his mother died,
your first grade class
hugged into a tight circle.
You were sorry for thinking him dirty
with his urine spreading all class beside you.
You held his sticky hand.
You wanted to say it right.
You asked him what made her go,
Was it because you wet the bed?