Ms. August Downstream in August, down the heron flew, straight through the secret bower where we stay in ferny waterfalls, safe from the day, forgotten as her words, a fonds perdu. A “girlie calendar” makes one think of men’s lockers, walls of auto repair shops or a military barracks: They’re typically collections of nude or […]
Author: Mary Meriam
Mary Meriam advocates for the right of women to love each other in their poetry and art, and strives to give their work a place at the table. She writes about and publishes such work in the journal she founded, Lavender Review, at the press she cofounded, Headmistress Press, and at Ms. magazine, The Critical Flame, and The Gay & Lesbian Review. Her poetry collections, The Countess of Flatbroke, The Poet's Zodiac, The Lillian Trilogy, and Lady of the Moon, honor a cosmos of strong, creative women. Her latest collection, My Girl's Green Jacket, was published in 2018, and her poems have appeared recently in Poetry, Prelude, Subtropics, and The Poetry Review.
Subverting the “Girlie” Calendar: Ms. July
Ms. July July, come find me in the fish’s gill. July, come splash and tip my quick canoe. July, come whisper who is kind and true. July, come when you willow, if you will. A “girlie calendar” makes one think of men’s lockers, walls of auto repair shops or a military barracks: They’re typically collections […]
Subverting the “Girlie” Calendar: June
Ms. June Where is the girl of June who skipped and ran along the feather lane of birdy hill? I’d like to give her my last daffodil. She’s lost on river road where she began. A “girlie calendar” makes one think of men’s lockers, walls of auto repair shops or a military barracks: They’re typically […]
Subverting the “Girlie” Calendar: April
Ms. April When April weeps, the tears drip on her toes, the water rises in the jade-stone lake, a blue jay shakes the red-bud blooms awake, in rainy light, the green grass rosy glows. A “girlie calendar” makes one think of men’s lockers, walls of auto repair shops or a military barracks: They’re typically […]
Subverting the “Girlie” Calendar: March
Ms. March On windy nights in March, her stars align, like satin stitches neatly placed in rows, and for a moment, though the rough wind blows, her needlepoint is part of the design. A “girlie calendar” makes one think of men’s lockers, walls of auto repair shops or a military barracks: They’re typically collections of […]
Subverting the “Girlie” Calendar: February
Ms. February Make me the heart of February, please, her sweet and frilly be-mine valentine, shot through and through with love incarnadine and holy scented essence of heart’s ease. A “girlie calendar” makes one think of men’s lockers, walls of auto repair shops or a military barracks: They’re typically collections of nude or scantily dressed […]
Subverting the “Girlie” Calendar: December
Ms. December Outside December’s window howls the bark rolled endlessly, big ocean’s opal foam, then silence. Then she thinks of her shalom, then longs for home, then hears the morning lark. A “girlie calendar” makes one think of men’s lockers, walls of auto repair shops or a military barracks: They’re typically collections of nude or […]
Subverting the “Girlie” Calendar: November
Ms. November November steels herself for this eclipse. She twirls her silver ring, light wheels to dark. Shuffle around the closed amusement park. Take flight before the skygray canvas rips. A “girlie calendar” makes one think of men’s lockers, walls of auto repair shops or a military barracks: They’re typically collections of nude or […]