Jude Marr
White Feminist Dis-Integration
how to be—have I no—will
I pass
for a privileged-but-kicking
ally
or do safety-pins disqualify
always?
milk skin corrugates, brow–
beaten
eaten up by doubt: without
pins, how
to reattach torn limbs
to a body
politic? before wet wounds
bleed
out: our
mothers
made mistakes: we
try
for relevance: while
minds
and bodies shatter, never
mine
not what matters.
When the Power Goes Out
could be Tuesday, or Thursday—any day
too late
anyway for daylight to redeem
darkness
a dim interior
darkness
not complete
but profound enough to make
familiar objects—household gods—shape-shift—
streetlights are out
also candles can’t be found
a car's a follow spot, crossing
washed-out kitchen wall—artichoke hearts
begin to rot
inside a dead refrigerator
in a living room
screen–glow—dimmed not drained—shows clock
as measurement—time bends without
context
all birds are silent—wireless—
screens fade
flashlights expire
fuel–starved
night explodes
into screaming sirens—
cockroaches crawl toward the moon.
Accommodation Under a Failed Regime
beyond the payphone’s empty cradle
and the crate-barricaded exit
one scarlet door dares—
Wo/Men
within, three stalls squat
semi–squalid
separators high like hoisted skirts
bowls exposed
Wo/men still must choose—
one broken lock
one absent seat
one busted flush—
but needs must—
Sister/Sitters Piss/Persist.
About Jude Marr
Jude Marr is the author of Breakfast for the Birds (Finishing Line, 2017). Other recent credits include Mud City, Black Napkin and Split This Rock. Originally from Scotland, Jude is currently a PhD student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and also poetry editor for r.kv.r.y. She writes and teaches poetry as protest.
Find her on the web at www.judemarr.com, @JudeMarr1 on Twitter, and @jude.marr on Instagram.