Claire Bateman

Sweet World

Where I come from,
our currency is cakes,
each the precise
size, mass, and density
of the purchase,

so all of our vehicles
are permanently hitched
to refrigerated trailers
roomy enough for even
the Barcalounger cake,
the washer/dryer cakes,
the SUV cake,

though always there are
structural issues to consider—
foundation, scaffolding, support—
which is why culinary engineers
are universally revered,
as are, of course,
the hens, whose eggs
hold everything together.


Claire Bateman writes and creates visual art in her hideout in Greenville, SC.