Oyster
by Kathleen A. Kelly
(11/3/99)
Gardenias white, weep like willows
their pale petals cling to the wind, a breeze
whistling through our channel.
Ghost air recites the legend of Morrigan; her copper hair
cropped close, Cuchullain's blade pulsing in her veins,
his torc slices into her, cutting her womanhood away.
He did not mean to harm her
they whisper, viewing the body
between sips of whiskey and the Our Father.
His starched collar scratches
like a pearl first formed in its shell, the grit
of sand polishing, smoothing its rough lip.
His lips and hands
were at first soft, then demanding
splitting her open.
©1999 by Kathleen A. Kelly
Reader
Comments
Kathleen A. Kelly has published articles, book reviews, interviews, and poetry
in Al Jadid, Amelia, The Astrophysicist's Tango Partner Speaks, CALYX, Clean
Sheets, ERIC, Green Hills Literary Lantern, Iowan, Iris, Litspeak (Germany), Rain
Taxi, Teaching for Success and others. She holds an M.A. in history from
the University of Northern Iowa and formerly taught in Guam and Iowa. In
1995 she received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Ms. Kelly currently works at Eastern Washington University Press and as a
consultant for Harcourt Publishers (formerly Harcourt Brace Publishing).
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