Two of My Poems Are Up at Flatbush Review

I am very happy that Flatbush Review, a new and exciting online literary magazine, has published two of my poems, “Clean,” and “Not Yet The Women They Would Grow Up To Be.” Interestingly, they both take place in the rain. Hence, the image accompanying this post. The poems are from a manuscript called Words for What Those Men Have Done that I am sending around to publishers, and I am happy they have found a home, since they deal with aspects of sexual violence and sexual desire that I think we don’t often speak openly about. Here are a couple of excerpts:

from “Clean”

I want to feel his rage against my skin,
so I head downstairs, my shorts
torn, without
pockets, my shirt
as well, in sandals
that if I left right now to search for you
would not survive to the end of my block.
I walk the garden path
till I’m standing at the south end,
soaking wet and watching
the water in the fountain
dance its welcome
to the water from the sky.

from “Not Yet The Women They Would Grow Up To Be”

Turning my flashlight off,
standing still as a rod
beneath the falling water,
I waited for the light
another strike would bring,
each drop hitting my skin
like a small stone.
Heaven itself,
I thought,
was stoning me.

If you do go read the poems, I’d love to hear what you think; and please consider checking out the Flatbush Review. It’s a journal with some real promise.

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2 Responses to Two of My Poems Are Up at Flatbush Review

  1. 1
    sharon cullars says:

    congratulations