CavanKerry Press Shines the Spotlight on My Poem “Coitus Interruptus”

My publisher, CavanKerry Press, posted today a profile of “Coitus Interruptus,” a poem from my first book, The Silence of Men. I was asked to write a little bit about the poem. Here’s an excerpt of what I had to say:

When we finished talking and my student had closed my office door behind her, I sat alone and marveled, not for the first time, at how many of the women I have known beyond the level of superficial acquaintance have shared with me the fact that they were survivors of some form of sexual(ized) violence. I know the statistics which make this fact less surprising than one might expect, but I am over and over again humbled by the trust they show me when they choose to reveal this part of who they are. More than that, though, I am very aware that my relationships with these women–relatives, friends, lovers, students–have helped make me who I am today, and it is sobering to think that, to the degree that they have been shaped by male violence, that violence has shaped me as well.

If you click on over to read the rest, please note a trigger warning for domestic and sexual violence.

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