“The Swellest Wife Anyone Ever Had,” Poems by Jennifer Schomburg Kanke

The Swellest Wife Anyone Ever Had (Kelsay Books, 2024) by Jennifer Schomburg Kanke chronicles the life of Enid, an Appalachian housewife born in 1919, through vivid imagery and keenly observed detail. The poet creates rich portraits not only of Enid’s personality and growth, but also of the people, landscape, and culture that shape her life in this unique novel in verse.

An early poem, “The Prayer No One Said at Her Birth,” suggests that Enid will need “steel in her veins” and the fortitude to endure “whatever shrapnel will come.” Though the language evokes war, the poem makes clear that Enid’s battles will unfold largely on the home front, in the “insistent drip / of rain and leaky faucets.” The closing entreaty—“May they never find her cracks, / may she never discover rust”—foreshadows both personal hardship and the broader historical forces she will live through, including the Great Depression and World War II.

In “They’d Arrest You for That Now,” seventeen-year-old Enid rides the school bus home in a scene that begins with youthful exuberance: boys hitch sleds to the bus bumper, becoming “Kings of Main Street, adrenaline / junkies / nothing to lose but an afternoon and their lives.” Enid, however, is absorbed in conversation with a “boy from the county home”—a connection her father would forbid. The poem beautifully captures the awakening of desire, as Enid’s thoughts whirl around the imagery of the Song of Songs—“lilies among the / thorns,” “bosoms and lips and (Oh!) lips.” This poem introduces a recurring thread: Enid’s first love for a farmhand with a “godly voice.” When her father dismisses the boy—ostensibly for taking too many breaks, but more likely because “he saw him touch my elbow”—Enid must take over his labor. The refrain “and now my body aches” conveys both physical exhaustion and emotional loss.

Another section centers on the devastating 1937 Ohio River flood, beginning with the striking image of water that “rang the doorbell / like a salesman come to call.” These poems move fluidly among perspectives: deer seeking higher ground, prisoners awaiting rescue, and a mother who drowns when a boat capsizes but saves her baby. Particularly memorable is the account of Albert Egbert, who climbs through a pharmacy window “to keep filling prescriptions / for people as long as he could,” even for strangers. The section concludes with the aftermath—“2 inches of sludge / covering everything”—and stark statistics that underscore the scale of destruction.

The narrative then returns to Enid’s lost love, who leaves to “play soldier boy” without declaring his feelings: “If he had something to say to me, / he should have said it plain.” Eventually, Enid moves on. In “The Boy in the Dress Blues,” he returns too late, discovering she has married. In “How Easily She Broke the Thing,” the fragility of a bracelet—“just baubles on a string”—mirrors the fragility of young love, reinforcing how swiftly life’s attachments can dissolve.

The section titled “Husband” introduces LeRoy, whom Enid chooses over “some silly boy” or “drinker of homemade hooch.” She seeks not romance alone, but a man “who understands.” Their marriage is rendered through everyday details—biscuits, salvaged furniture, and wartime separation. In one letter, LeRoy writes, “If I don’t ever see you again, don’t feel bad about it, / for you were the swellest wife anyone ever had,” giving the collection its title and emotional anchor.

A series of brief, humorous poems—each titled “That LeRoy is Such a Card”—adds warmth and authenticity. The humor feels lived-in, especially for readers familiar with Appalachian culture, where storytelling and joking often coexist with hardship. The poems also acknowledge LeRoy’s postwar struggles, lending emotional depth to his character.

In “Not Understanding Palimpsests, My Grandmother Thinks She Can Leave the Holler,” Enid attempts to start anew, moving to a town of “aluminum / siding, concrete walkways, / neighbors in / hailing distance.” The title suggests the futility of erasure: no matter where she goes, the imprint of her past remains.

Kanke skillfully pairs humor with pathos throughout the poems. In “All the Wild Things Kept Inside,” following LeRoy’s death, Enid reflects on his small irritations—muddy footprints, stray dogs—alongside her grief. Faced with a hole in the bedroom floor where a woodchuck has burrowed, she imagines either shouting into it or following him into the darkness:

When he is gone
she will look down
into that hole and yell,
“Stay out, you fool,”
or perhaps she will crawl her way
into the darkness with him.

The final section, “Enid, Herself,” portrays her widowhood and eventual decision to date again, despite community gossip. The poems affirm her right to live fully:

No one should fault

a woman for living her life, for trying her best to soak

up the rays of a dying day with a few little dates

after so many years. It wasn’t like she was running around

or bathing herself in Shalimar instead of Dove.

The contrast of the sensuous perfume with the wholesome soap that wasn’t even a soap according to its label adds a layer of humor once again.

Throughout the collection, Kanke captures an entire way of life: wringer washers, clotheslines, Singer sewing machines, vegetable gardens, Radio Flyer wagons, Kool-Aid, marigolds, and family gatherings. These details ground the poems in a tangible, deeply felt world.

Ultimately, The Swellest Wife Anyone Ever Had is both a tribute to the poet’s grandmother and a testament to a generation of Appalachian women who, indeed, needed “steel in their veins.” They did more than endure—they built lives of resilience and meaning, creating the foundation for those who followed.

Jen Schomburg Kanke

Jennifer Schomburg Kanke, originally from Columbus, Ohio, has lived in Tallahassee, Florida, since 2010. Her work has appeared in New Ohio Review, Pleiades, Massachusetts Review, Shenandoah, and Crab Orchard Review. She also hosts the Meter Cute interview series on the Meter & Mayhem Substack and serves on the board of Anhinga Press.