Toni Roucka

CONTACT:
Address: 7727 5th Ave. Kenosha, WI 53143
Email: toni.roucka@marquette.edu

BIO:
Toni M. Roucka is Professor Emerita at Marquette University. She enjoys writing poetry, short fiction, and non-fiction. Toni has a certificate in creative writing from the University of Washington, Seattle, and is a two-time alumna of the Yale Writers Workshop. She has had works published in the Roundtable Literary Journal, The Lake is Mother to Us All, a 2024 project of the Racine/Kenosha chapter of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets, Bramble, Sad Girl Diaries, and 101 Words.org.  Toni resides near Lake Michigan in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with her husband and fur baby, Tula.

Poetry

City Dog’s Sonnet

Beneath a dome of sapphire and crystal,
Where snails complain of a pace too slow,
A city pup must brave thorn and thistle,
And loathes a strange world she’d rather not know.

The foreign scents spiked with cow dung and hay,
No trace of car fumes, street trash, or curry,
The car ride a treat, she now rues that day,
Her person might like fresh air, she worries.

Strolls entail wet feet, nose, and belly,
Pup wonders how long she must endure this,
So much for special treats at the deli,
And warm, dry, and pure apartment couch bliss.

But love does conquer and all things they share,
Together is more important than where.

Cracks in the Snow Globe

What if Hallmark movies showed us the cracks in the snow globe
In the prologue, what if the teacher, writer, baker didn’t lose her husband in some tragedy
But instead went through a messy divorce and has a stalker for an ex

What if the prodigious, pre-teen daughter of the teacher, writer, baker
Has lingering mental health issues because of the divorce
And had to change schools three times
But she gets better—in therapy

What if the teacher, writer, baker meets her new boyfriend
Carpenter, firefighter, orchard owner
At an AA meeting
She was serving cookies
He was getting clean

What if the carpenter, firefighter, orchard owner
Spent some time in the slammer, too
Just a minor felony — perhaps a bar fight that ended badly as he was
Defending his former girlfriend—the high school nemesis of the
Teacher, writer, baker
From her pimp
And the chair the carpenter, firefighter, orchard owner threw at the pimp
Hit him just right in the head and put him in a coma for a few weeks
He would pimp no more

So, the carpenter, firefighter, orchard owner can’t vote
But he has a great smile, learned some cooking skills in jail, and he loves animals 

Bonus—the stalker ex of the teacher, writer, baker left town
Turns out he’s a wuss
He’s afraid of her new tough-guy boyfriend

What if the community fundraiser for the ‘Save the Orphanage/Family Farm Endowment’
Starts with laughter, cocoa, and cookies
But ends in semi-tragedy when an unexpected, rare winter tornado
Attributed to climate change
Blows through the town of Spencer Falls
Don’t worry—no one gets hurt except the snowman
Who gets a priority rebuild

What if, through all this adversity, there is no almost break-up
Between the teacher, writer, baker, and the carpenter, firefighter, orchard owner
They create an inseparable bond

What if, at the end, the snow begins to fall
The teacher, writer, baker and the carpenter, firefighter, orchard owner hold hands
Staring into each other’s sparkling eyes
Nothing bad happens