UnWelcomed, UnAskedFor
by Lisa Marie Brodsky
UnWelcomed, UnAskedFor
Part One: Owls
(after “Threshold” by Olena Kalytiak Davis)
UnWelcomed & UnExpected, you say he stepped into your house
Past a litany of items on your fridge:
photos of summer vacations, your “well-appointed LIFE”
My mother’s unWelcomed men walked the fork
that led one way to my room, the other to hers
I believe
at the age of three
I heard. Something. Because I awoke
with a yawp
I think I heard (both?) men and now at thirty-eight
I can’t un-
hear them
Part Two: Egg Skins
(after Davis’ “I Had a Ski-Masked Rapist in My House”)
It’s crazy (I’m not kidding) how many women have the
snood and wattle hang over them in middle-nights
It’s wild (I’m not kidding) how many don’t tell, don’t whisper
or vomit it into the bathroom toilet, don’t write it down
They take the wrestling
the big yolk-wide eyes, sheet stripped off
like egg whites, themselves
Mother’s red heat boiled just beneath her skin
as the knife pressed into
the soft, chewy dewlap of throat
Tears leak through women’s thin scrim
screams and obscenities many don’t consider
Pr(H)im proper appROP(E)riate
Once (un)handel(ed), once the discordant cacophony is over (confused) (finalized)
I think we’d agree the toilet is the best place to toss
the underwear— peeled orange rinds torn into shrapnel,
(violent/violated/violet) bruises blooming on neck, arms, wrists— a sick souvenir
Best to spit out their words of deserving/wanting/asking for it
Flush the It right down.
Lisa Marie Brodsky is the author of “We Nod Our Dark Heads” (Parallel Press, 2008) and “Motherlung” (Salmon Poetry, 2014). Her poetry has been published in “The North American Review,” “Mom Egg Review,” “Diode Poetry Journal,” and is forthcoming in “Linden Avenue Literary Journal,” “Indicia,” among others. Lisa is at work on her third collection of poetry,departing from her usual style of work. She risks sounding insane with every submission, but takes delight in discovering new creative avenues to explore and new genres to twist. Lisa works as a Job Coach for adults with disabilities and also moonlights as a Creativity Advocate for writers in need of a cheerleader. More info can be found at www.lisamariebrodsky.blogspot.com
The Drowning Gull 