Metropolitan by Jeanine Stevens

It was important then to be tasteful,

mirrored tiles, gold streaked 

or gray smoked, a popular item.




Used extensively as panels

on dining room walls, 

a touch of elegance, 

1970’s version of savoir faire.




Friends hosted a dinner party,

game hens, the stuffing rich

with caraway seeds and brown rice. 

I glanced at our images. 




Mirrors obscured faces, difficult 

to see intimate interactions. 

We talked through fog.




Some would think the little squared 

reflections a source of comfort, 

instead the surface 

appeared impenetrable.




I watched the clock and noticed

puffy black stars emerged 

from a gold flecked ceiling. 






















Jeanine Stevens has three Pushcart Nominations, and was the 2013 winner of The Macguffin Poet Hunt for her poem "New Delhi," judged by Philip Levine. Her work has appeared in Poet Lore, South Dakota Review, Valparaiso Poetry Journal and Ekphrasis. She is the author of "Sailing on Milkweed."