The September roundup is one of the biggest yet for Women Who Submit members. Congratulations to all!
From Lisa Cheby‘s “War Lessons from Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spoilage” at the Rising Phoenix Review:
He didn’t mean to suggest
the harvest would be easy.
We have to get all the skeletons out
of the graves.
From Soleil David‘s “Book of Transnational Feminist Prayer: On Barbara Jane Reyes’ Invocation to Daughter” at Post No Ills:
Barbara Jane Reyes’ fifth poetry collection Invocation to Daughters (City Lights, 2017) is a missal for Filipino women, one that uses Western poetic forms to utter an unapologetically transnational feminist poetics. In this collection, Reyes pushes against Spanish and American influences, the two patriarchs that have kept the Philippines abject for much of its history. The poems subvert Western tradition through the use of those same Western traditions, all while bringing in multiple languages, as well as ruminations on Filipino and Filipino-American culture.
From Arlene Schindler‘s “I Chose a Career Over Babies” at Living the Second Act:
I don’t have regrets about not bearing children. It was a conscious decision. Some parents may see my life as empty, unfruitful, or even immature.
From Désirée Zamorano‘s “Adelanto” at Cultural Weekly:
It starts with pain and outrage.
You’re out of the country when you hear about a Supreme Court Justice stepping down, and the caged children. You want to keen and wail, but you don’t. You want to never return to your country of origin, but you do. You return to daily life at home.
From Ava Homa‘s “Theatre Review: Glass Menagerie at International City Theatre” at Signal Tribune:
Deftly directed by John Henry Davis, who has helmed International City Theatre productions of A Walk in the Woods, End of the Rainbow and Trying, Glass Menagerie is a spectacular revival of Tennessee Williams’s exquisitely-lyrical play.
Congratulations to Ava whose piece “Iranian Women Protest Compulsory Hijab” was published at Herizons!
From “Hijab in the Trump Era” by Mahin Ibrahim at Lenny Letter:
It was 2016, before Trump got elected, before the Muslim travel ban, before he tweeted his most contentious Islamophobic comments yet. Fearing assault, Mejgan, whose face was framed by a hijab, went to shield her daughter, but realized she had someone else to protect as well — her unborn son.
From “Sacrifice” by Noriko Nakada at the Rising Phoenix Review:
Cross a playground
bullets tear flesh
dark puddle
on the blacktop
laughter of children
potential targets
echo.
Also from Noriko, “Where Are the Children” at Queen Mob’s Teahouse:
A child in a cage
the age of my own
tiny
smaller
than my father was
when he was held
behind barbed wire
in the dust of a desert.
From “6 Back-to-School Resolutions” from Ryane Nicole Granados at LA Parent:
It’s officially a new year, but instead of a ball dropping for New Year’s Eve, a bell is ringing…
From “There Is No Room Inside This Room” by Hazel Kight Witham at the Rising Phoenix Review:
There is little breath to load
in early school day
when we are packed 40-to-1
into chamber
where even our hellos, good mornings
are breathless and scattershot
Congratulations to Hazel who had two other poems published in the Rising Phoenix Review this month!
From Antonia Crane‘s “The Most Realistic Sex-Worker Portrayals in Pop Culture, According to Sex Workers” at Mel Magazine:
…when I think about which sex workers resonate in pop culture the most deeply for me, I think about Sharon Stone in Casino, tossing back her silky high ponytail. She rolls the dice and says, “I told you I was hot tonight.” She’s at the top of her game, but still vulnerable to her darker impulses. I think about Marisa Tomei as a jaded dancer in The Wrestler when she dances for Mickey Rourke. She describes every stripper I know when she says, “I’m not just some stripper. I’m a mom.”
Also from Antonia, “Stormy Daniels, the Presidential Penis and Whether or Not Sex Workers Should Kiss and Tell” also at Mel Magazine:
When men hire women or pay them off for a handjob, sex, lap dance or domme session, they assume sex workers will scurry away in silent shame with their secrets and money tucked away, but they’d be wrong.
From “North American Motherhood” by Jamie Asaye FitzGerald at Mutha Magazine:
Endless washing, cleaning, resupplying,
sterilizing, worrying, reading up on,
not reading,
caring for, compromising, fantasizing,
obsessing over the pancake flattening of breasts,
inspecting, not inspecting, worrying about
not inspecting
From Marnie Goodfriend‘s “‘At Least You Don’t Have Children.’ People Think This Makes Divorce Easier. For Me, It Doesn’t” at the Washington Post:
Whenever someone asks, “Are you married?” and I respond with, “I’m divorced,” I inhale and wait for it. No one invited them to ask a follow-up question, and yet they always do: “Do you have kids?”
It’s as if they are looking for something to brighten up the space. It’s their opportunity to be a confidant or sage advice giver. They are prepared to play either role contingent upon my response.
From “Phillip Clay: A Year Later” by Julayne Lee at Cultural Weekly:
Last year I remembered this all too clearly as I gathered for another vigil. On May 21, 2017, Phillip Clay died by suicide in Seoul. Adopted to the U.S., Clay never received his citizenship and was deported back to South Korea in 2009. News of his death reverberated across social media. It was as if I could feel our collective grief weighing on every word in cyberspace.
Congratulations to Aruni Wijesinghe whose poems “Arranged Bridegroom” and “Caminando con Calaveras” were published at Moon Tide Press!
Congratulations to Colette Sartor who won a residency at Ragdale!
Congratulations to Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo whose poem “Rancherita” was published at Huizache Magazine 8!
Congratulations to Judy Gitterman whose story “Coming Home” was published at Borrowed Solace!
Congratulations to Tanya Ko Hong whose poem “Gacela of Moonshine” was published at First-Literary Review East!