Virginia Barrett
Ode to She
she’s not starved but dies in need
she’s not beaten but is internally bruised
she’s not flogged but her wounds fester
she’s not silenced but her tongue’s cut out
she’s not choked but is strangled
she’s not sacrificed but her heart, still beating, is
she’s not raped but is raped
she’s not thrown in the hole but declines in darkness
she’s not sliced but bleeds
she’s not tied to the rack but is wrenched apart
she’s not jailed but is captive
she’s not questioned but is grilled
she’s not detained but is chained
she’s not enslaved but is bound
she’s not submerged but drowns
she’s not burned but writhes inside
she’s not shot at the wall but falls
she’s not crucified but does rise
Virginia Barrett’s books of poetry include Between Looking (forthcoming, 2019 from Finishing Line Press), Crossing Haight, and I Just Wear My Wings. Barrett is the editor of two anthologies of contemporary San Francisco poets including OCCUPY SF—poems from the movement. Her work has most recently appeared in the Writer’s Chronicle, Narrative, Roar: Literature and Revolution by Feminist People, Ekphrastic Review, Weaving the Terrain (Dos Gatos Press), and Poetry of Resistance: Voices for Social Justice (University of Arizona Press). She received a 2017 writer’s residency grant from the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of Taos, NM. Her chapbook, Stars By Any Other Name, was a semi-finalist for the Frost Place Chapbook Competition sponsored by Bull City Press, 2017. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
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