Piker Press — Weekly Journal of Arts and Literature
April 27, 2026

Blanch

"To blanch is to whiten, to bleach..."

Blanch

To blanch is to whiten, to bleach.
We blanch vegetables, nuts,
sometimes slivered, like almonds.
We bleach to disinfect.
We blanch when the president
suggests we inject said-disinfectant.
Someone says, as fast as greased lightning,
he has a good you know what up there,
meaning brain, but white matter
disease is more likely.
He says heat might help, white light
through the skin, or somehow
inside your body --
like a stroke, a blind spot --
what you might see at the end
of the proverbial tunnel --
so many are now ascending,
reaching for a silver lining,
the wan sunlight -- the whites
of their eyes rolling,
the white flag of surrender
unfolding, before they flatline,
white-washed.





4/24/2020
NaPoWriMo






Article © Betsy Mars. All rights reserved.
Published in the August 3, 2020 issue .
Image(s) are public domain.
More by Betsy Mars → More poetry → Full issue →
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