Rules, Not to Be Broken by Licia Canton

January 26, 2022
Poem name: Rules, Not to Be Broken Poet name: Licia Canton Poem begins: He knows. The one who gets up last, makes the bed. She knows. The one who cooks, doesn’t clean up. They know. One does the laundry, the other folds, puts clothes away. She does the laundry. She folds. Opens drawers. Closes drawers. I just won’t do it right, he says. He gets up last. She makes the bed. He cooks. She cleans up the kitchen. She gets up last. She makes the bed. She cooks. He doesn’t clean up the kitchen. Well, well, he laughs. Rules are made to be broken. And, I didn’t agree to these rules. Your rules. She goes on strike. One day, one week, one month. New rules. He cooks. Takes out the trash, recycling, compostable bin. She does the rest. No one irons. Ever. End of Poem. Credits: Copyright © Licia Canton Previously published in Italian Canadiana, Vol 34, 2020. Licia Canton’s poems and stories have appeared in English, French, Chinese, Italian and Venetian dialect. She is the author of The Pink House and Other Stories (2018) and Almond Wine and Fertility (2008)), published in Italy as Vino alla mandorla e fertilità (2015). She is the editor of Here & Now: An Anthology of Queer Italian-Canadian Writing (2021) and director of the documentary film Creative Spaces: Queer and Italian Canadian (2021). She is Emilio Goggio Research Fellow (2021-2022) in Italian-Canadian Studies at the University of Toronto. Licia Canton was Honorary Fellow in Translation (2018-2021) at the University of Hull, U.K., Visiting Professor and Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calabria (2019). The founding editor-in-chief of Accenti Magazine, Licia Canton is the recipient of the Italy in the World Prize (2018) for her work in culture. She is currently president of the Association of Italian-Canadian Writers (AICW). She holds a Ph.D. from Université de Montréal and an M.A. from McGill University. • www.accenti.ca • www.aicw.ca • www.queeritaliancanadian.com