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This is the world
we get and only
this, the blood and the water mingle,
and wordless
the moan among lilies and honeysuckle,
the branches shake
like my arms after rough
sex I want
you fresh from the hunt
your face smeared with the perfume
I leave on your mouth
it’s this overgrowth that reminds me
of how much
we are overrun
with the excess and the lush,
I have pressed
this hand to your plush
forget
that I said this.
This world
we made is the only one we get,
and it splays to a golden
center
and it singles us out
for sacrifice.
This poem was one of the winners of the 2012 “Discovery” Poetry Contest.
Rebecca Hazelton is author of the forthcoming Fair Copy and teaches creative writing at Beloit College.
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In this new anthology of poetry, fiction, and essays from renowned writers and newcomers, contributors explore whether and how we can repair from terrible ruptures, life-threatening illnesses and pandemic, toxic politics, racist horrors, and more.
Fiction
“The rising voices wanted to twist arms. The violence of their speech spread across her shoulders, inched down her backside.” A young woman struggles to have an abortion.
Poetry
“Room, Room, Room, in the many Mansions of Eternal Glory for Thee and for Everyone” & “Publick Universal Friend Adopts a More Androgynous Appearance . . .”
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