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by Maria S. Picone

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CV-[ ] University¹

 

told me: 

go read [        ] publish speak     oh! this [             ] by [               ] has some good insights

bend your form; tuck your elbow into your knee:: rotate your hips

“never apologize” [           ] advised me              

here in the 77 can’t cry in the women’s [                    ] 

without some [             ] reporting it to the [                 ]

 

stared at [             ]’s bookshelf wondering, “I don’t drink [         ], don’t smoke [        ]

what the [            ] am I doing here”                sat on the [          ]

next to all the male students’ [               ] putting on lipstick

pivot faster to cross skates; arabesque into a plie:: now draw the bow across

not an equal to your [           ,             ] peers

 

he put his hand on my back                      can’t forget

curled up     a dead leaf in the field

too many hoops           too little time

“Think it’s best if you take a break; we’ll be here”

“No worries, I’ll be better off in a creative career”

duck among swans, duck among

 

¹The words ‘white’ and ‘male’ belong somewhere in this poem.

 

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Maria S. Picone has been published in Ice Floe Press, Moonchild Magazine, and Whale Road Review. A HUES Scholar and TWH Fellow, she won Cream City Review’s 2020 Summer Poetry Prize. Maria’s work explores themes of identity and social justice centering on transnational adoption. Her website is mariaspicone.com, Twitter @mspicone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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