Anna Girgenti
Image by Tim Mossholder from Unsplash
Anna Girgenti was a recipient of the 2018 Iowa Chapbook Prize from the University of Iowa. Her writing has appeared in such places as Cider Press Review, Lunch Ticket, Cumberland River Review, Zone 3 Press, and Mid-American Review. She currently lives in Chicago where she works with incarcerated writers. To get in touch with her or read more of her work, visit www.annagirgenti.com.
Litany of Secrets
Another year the dandelions go uneaten another summer
I survive on mounds and mounds of frozen venison
imagined thinness and flashbacks to sad sex listen
to me doctor please the diagnosis is not enough I need
to see every photo ever taken of me burn each one slowly
scoop the ashes into my mouth and sleep away the fat winter
on a hardwood floor I need to peel off all the skin on my hands
and feet I need to see the mosquito bite scabs on my ankles dry
like droplets of red red wax and collect them in a little jar please
listen I am so lonely but at least September is ending
at least the altar in my bedroom with its dried weeds and prayer
and tarot cards and matches stands untouched as a relic at least
the full-length mirror hangs high enough on the wall to show
only the warped head and shoulders of a ghost a hollow woman
I do not want to know.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
©2023 West Trade Review
Stay Connected to Our Literary Community. Subscribe to Our Newsletter
Listen to Poem:
