O, corkscrew—
You’re supposed to be easier,
easier than the one with
bird wings that press down,
and pull the cork up,

easier than the one with
the rabbit ears that
I press like
a stevedore
lifting cargo,

and much easier than
the simple one with
a blond wood pull-handle
and snaking metal tooth.

The salesclerk told me
how you lift yourself up
by twirling and twirling like
a ballerina on point.

But I stare at your black
inscrutable body, and wonder

If you will ever let me understand
your parts, and how, oh

how

they work together.

————

Marcia J. Pradzinski, a retired ESL teacher and award-winning poet, lives in Skokie, Illinois. Her poems have appeared online, in print journals and anthologies. Her most recent publications have been featured in Rhino, Blue Heron Review, Olentangy Review, Paper Swans Press UK, East on Central, Pirene’s Fountain, Red Eft Review and is forthcoming in Open: Journal of Arts & Poetry. Her chapbook, Left Behind, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2015. “Ode to a Corkscrew was awarded Honorable Mention in 2010 Funny Poetry Contest at highlandparkpoetry.org and was originally published in 2011 at yourdailypoem.com.