A Reconstructed Life
Breast cancer causes profound loss and grief. We grieve the loss of our bodies. We grieve the loss of our feminine identity.
Stories Poems Essays
Dismantler
Warehouse of unassuming light | like a just-kissed face, eyes still closed | power’s out during my interview and tour | subdued orchestra of rain leaks through the metal roof…
Vacuum Extraction
Once, in an ultrasound room, a technician in a faded grey frock asked me which pregnancy this was. “My ninth,” I said in a flat voice.
before whisky after jazz
“after the toe-teasing whisky whipping morning jazz beach-kissing i wanted us to shift to the centre of our sun i found a black hole…”
Lotus
It doesn’t matter how old the wound is; the mere mention of him makes my mood shift. “Let the past be the past,” they claim. I am. “What’s your problem?” I have none.
Someone to Watch My Back
Our mother had a tattoo. We didn’t see it until we washed her before the undertaker came. It was two tattoos, in truth. Two brown dots, one above her right breast, one below.
Austin Kelly – Candid and Authentic Poems
Austin Kelly – Coke and Whiskey, and Grand Delusions of Winter – You kept me company like the other cheerleaders couldn’t, from park to hotel, ride to store…
For David
I write this to remember, David. I need something more fluid than a photograph, something that comprehends more of you…”
The poem was still pulsing…
Out I could not venture | Because it was an ungodly hour | The hour of sirens and vagabonds. | In the morning | The poem was still pulsing…