On March 21, the Bucks County Women’s History Association awarded Mae Krier for the work she did to gain recognition for the Rosie the Riveters, whose labor helped win World War II. When the men went overseas to fight, the American women at home signed up in droves to work in the factories, manufacturing machinery and supplies to contribute to the war effort. Their labor was instrumental to the Allies’ victory.

Krier recounts how, when the war was over, “The men were given parades, and the women were given the pink slip.” Krier started working as a Rosie the Riveter when she was 17 years old. After the war, she worked to gain recognition for the important work that she and her fellow Rosies had done. As a result of her advocacy, Congress established a National Rosie the Riveter Day (March 21) in 2017, and on April 10, 2024, collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to honor the Rosies’ contributions. Krier, along with several other surviving Rosies, went to Washington to receive the award.

I was asked to write a poem for Bucks County’s March 21 Women’s History Month Award celebration. It was an honor to meet Mae, to participate in the celebration, and to learn more about the hard work of these pioneering women. Mae is a truly inspiring person.

The poem — “Working Girls” — is slated to appear in the Bucks County Herald’s Poet’s Corner later this year.

Update Dec. 2024: Here’s a link to the poem, “Working Girls.“

Thanks so much to everybody who came out, and thanks to Dr. Ethel Rackin for setting up the event. It was a beautiful time.

Recently my poem “Dream House” was published in the March 2023 issue of Ghost City Review. I’d be honored if you read it and would highly recommend reading the rest of this engaging issue too. It contains so many great poems and stories! It’s hard to choose favorites. However, I’ll go with the three pieces that made me happiest (the first two in a traditional sense, and the third one because it inspires a sense of wonder — or at least it did for me): Amanda Ryan’s “Go to the Ant,” Rae Katz’s “Ode to an Inside Joke,” and Amy Marques’s “My Father’s Burgundy Pajamas.”

My poem is based on a series of semi-recurring, nightmare-adjacent dreams that I had for the first few years after my husband and I moved into our house. It’s an old place and had been somewhat neglected when we moved in. But it is a good place to live. My subconscious took its time internalizing that — and the actual layout of the house — though. The poem is a collage of those not-quite nightmares.

Read “Dream House”