Michelle DeRose

We were warned about apples,
how the seedy center might hold
a blade. The nutted caramel hid
its invasion. Rumor, of course.
Urban myth to taint the walk,
wrap the fun size in suspicion.
Now tear gas clouds the block
in spooky smoke, the scare to teach
that nothing sweet comes from masks.

Professor Emerita of English at Aquinas College, Michelle DeRose lives and writes in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her most recent publications appear in The New Verse News, Peninsula Poets, Dunes Review, and The Stafford Challenge Anthology.

This poem appears in Uprooted: Poems of Resistance, Witness, and Survival (The Chaos Section Poetry Project, Fall 2026). We’re sharing each poem from the collection individually over the coming weeks. You can read the full book or download the free PDF here.