2 March 2004 | Vol. 4, No. 1
Cyclops Mary
(part I)
If Cyclops Mary heard it.
If that sentence flew clean into the ear.
If the whole thing traveled pure,
unrustled by the pigeons.
If Old John dipped his tongue in alcohol
and sent the words to her stinking of rum.
If the verbs, pronouns, and grammar of the thing
traveled to her steady like a train.
One-eyed bitch, maybe I could fuck you in the dark.
If he said it all mouth
as she walked down the Avenue, and she heard it.
If no man, not even black like her,
stood up, said She is of me, and she heard it.
If the whole world opened like a curtain to make room
for a straight line between his lips and the drum of her ear,
it was unseeable.
Her legs strode long.
Her head stayed up.
Her thick arms kept
their swinging.
That black eye, open, clean
as a field.
About the author:
Aracelis Girmay is a writer of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Originally from California, she received her MFA from NYU. Girmay has worked as a writer-in-residence with the Community~Word Project and Teachers & Writers Collaborative, and is currently hard at work with the CARE project in her native Santa Ana. Among her most recent publications is the short story "girl medusa" (I Was There, anthology). She has been a featured poet at The Udi Adoni Project Room, the Bowery Poetry Club, Bar 13, Cornelia Street, and the New Jersey State Prison–Trenton, among others. A former Watson Fellow and a present Cave Canem Fellow, she loves her work as writer and educator—believes this work to be integral to social change. She also loves her loves—Yosef, Banna, and Ariana—who have taught her to move straight-backed in the world, with open eyes. She can be reached at aracelisgirmay@yahoo.com.
For further reading:
See the complete list of work by Aracelis Girmay at 42opus. Browse the contents of 42opus Vol. 4, No. 1, where "Cyclops Mary" ran on March 2, 2004. List other work with these same labels: poetry, editors' select.
