Jeanie Tomasko is the author of Tricks of Light (Parallel Press), Sharp as Want (Little Eagle Press), a poetry / artworks collaboration with Sharon Auberle, an e-chapbook, If I Confess Before 5:00 (Right Hand Pointing), (Prologue), the recipient of an Editor’s Choice award from Concrete Wolf Chapbook Series, Violet Hours (Taraxia Press), and most recently, The Collect of the Day (Bent Paddle Press). She can be found on her website (jeanietomasko.com) and if she’s not there, she is probably walking around somewhere near Lake Superior with her husband, Steve, or enjoying the antics of their 3 cats at home. She works as a home health nurse in Madison, WI.
Crossword Sonnet (codes)
1 Across: Knot in the middle of the spine.
2 Down: The spine of the matter.
3. Matter at the corner of the eye.
4. I, you, word for us.
5. Word for tonight.
6. I can’t ________ anyone.
7 Down: The Truth.
8 Down: Word for wild joy—(see 9 Across.)
9. Across from me at your shiny steel counter, you,
taking orders for fries, burgers;
on our breaks they won’t let us talk so we write
notes to each other
(10) across: fast food order forms.
11. Words for can’t wait.
12 Across: to meet you later.
13. Under: the second bridge.
14. Run: Your hand up the middle of my sternum;
turn the key behind the heart.