Mslexia

Mslexia, the magazine for women who write | www.mslexia.co.uk

New Writing

Naked bulbs hang
like the bellies
of swollen bees
 
the radiator whistles
and cicadas move through
grass accordions.
 
Wind pulls in.
 
You remember
this feeling
the stillness,
a glass of cold milk
sitting on the
kitchen counter,
a body behind you,
her wrist pressing
against your spine.
Both of you
watching men
with pushed up sleeves
rolling hay.
 
You once had a dream
in which all of the
window frames
fold in –
lines breaking
and the floor
surrendering to
wild daffodil fields.

The memory leaves
a chalk outline
of a body long gone –
tracks in tall grass
wheat bent back.

JEANETTE ANDERSON, 20, is a full-time student at Eugene Lang College in New York City. She used to write only on the subway – a perfect venue for a self-proclaimed eavesdropper – but now writes at home listening to the same song repeatedly. (The music changes as the poems do). She has previously had a poem entitled ‘Biographical Tenth Of A Cento’ published in Magma. Unpredictable spouts of writer’s block interrupt her writing, which can range from 5-10 hours a week. She must have something sweet with a glass of milk every night, and aspires to publish a poetry collection.

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