Something From the Woman I Left Behind

1978,
the seventh anniversary of our marriage
we spent the night in a van,
on top of Brasstown Bald mountain.

He slipped a pistol under the mattress
and said we would be safe
from robbers.

Vandals wear many disguises
and the violated learns, eventually,
to recognize the mask.

2 a.m.,
wrapped in my own arms,
the scent of his whiskey on my neck,
bruises on bare trembling legs;
I stood naked before the moon.

In cold October air,

[...] Read more

poem by Shirley Alexander
Added by Poetry Lover
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