originally published in Feminine Collective See how she scuttles across the floor The cold tile numbs, then burns Her palms, knees, shins All portions of flesh pressed on The harder thing—the hardest thing Not cursed yet— —Soon Then there’s this back The thing that holds her together The thing she’s built around Grew up around Now crushed...
originally published in don't die press Fire eats the forest Evergreens turn to ash Water chokes the canyon Slopes fall under mud Wind inhales the neighborhood Throws rafters to the ground A woman gives her body out of hunger for the touch Her private land is fertile where scattered seeds are sown Abundance is Husbanded, Planned, Discussed Until...
originally published in Feminine Collective What if my dystopia is your heaven, my utopia your hell? We’re not on the same page, darling May I still call you that? You said it could never happen here Isn’t that what the Germans said of Hitler? Where did they think his anti-Semitic rants...
originally published in Feminine Collective Agony—a gone knee Can’t bend—no way to mend This isn’t about aging—maybe about raging What stops the crazy rhyme-time? Unplug the clock Blind its ruby face Tear your eyes out if you must Choke on dust There I go again, too easy This lilting rhythm and sound Trapped by the jazzy...
originally published in Q/A Poetry when a cliché, she’s wily, cunning, crazy as a fox in her foxy coat made slyly of her own fur when not, she escapes the brush, crosses the road, cut by hunger’s knife to seek the fleeing prey when a cliché, the a gentleman farmer slows his late-model rig to spare her thieving life, impatient then for...
originally published in 34THParallel Magazine All my life I knew one day I’d sail off the edge of the world Into the mouth of a smiling dragon That’s me on that painted Medieval ship Canvas billowing Men pulling the ropes in terror STOP! But the world is flat & the wind has...
originally published in Lamplit Underground NINA’S DREAM The left eye’s pupil is sluggish I’m not sure how much you can really see Please cover your right eye Now your left And, between the two? One clear, the other distorted One gives green only, the Other, red & green Like Christmas? [Each sighs, takes a moment] Please continue One...
originally published in Feminine Collective Who may tell her story? Who has earned the right? What if she’s come and gone? Has no tongue, no eyes, no hands? Must one wear her skin, eat from her bowl Fight nightmare’s demons on her sleeping mat just to feel the Rhythm of her heart? Aren’t...
originally published in Feminine Collective The rib never fit And the apple had worms Fig leaves are for fools shaming the Triangle of life Caves sheltered as long as you brought Down your share, felled by points you Chiseled by the hour, in between Sewing skins and putting the baby To your breast— Migrations, snow,...
originally published in Wilde Boy two little circles below her elbow reach for her porcelain hand on different planes as if the arm had been held and gently turned - as if the one who touched his lit cigarette to her skin felt a bit of whimsy as he considered which spot to kiss...