Photography by Natasha Marin
the ruby red slippers i cannot find
have snuck up beside an extra leg
beneath a pile of dusty affirmations
& those words still sweet in the middle
like hard caramel
all this talk about leap
faith & let it be
hang loose
casual
& you wonder
how an angel
responds to dirty
panties. if she shields
herself with her wings.
a is not the beginning
but the end
like circa like era
it does not stay fixed
malleable like lava
when you put it on paper
make the circle & a hook
keep it hanging & open
drape your future like
it's sheer like it's shear
salutations sorrow
wring your wrist
atop my lips
when your blood
becomes my
covenant
i promise to
let. you. go.
signs
everybody knows
you are not meant
to be held. behold
everything but you
sacred. sacrilegious
& saraphina all covered in
semen. see men
running to you
with closed firsts.
first a dress of white
next a baby. carriage.
care is just another word
like well. wailing veins
shut up. up until
there is no more. more.
everybody knows
you are not meant
to be held.
you remember
you were an elaborate canopy once
your cover & breeze
a synonym for safe
you remember the way
the legs seem to brace
backbend & blaze
you remember that you
remember & you know
you've scene yourself in
this play. the way that
burnt toast & runny yolk
seem to canopy in the
middle of an easy sunday
morning. you sublet your
memory only for a moment
& round about vacant
& empty
bedroom
The Project Room is following author and performer Anastacia Tolbert in the making of her upcoming One-Woman show, 9 Ounces. Read more about 9 Ounces here and stay tuned to get tickets to her performance which debuts at TPR in July 2015.
Anastacia Tolbert is a Cave Canem Fellow, Hedgebrook Alumna, Jack Straw Writer, EDGE Professional Writer, VONA alum, creative writing workshop facilitator, documentarian and playwright. She is writer, co-director, and co-producer of GOTBREAST? Documentary (2007): a documentary about the views of women regarding breast and body image. Lately she’s been obsessed with the body & the stories it holds. Her poetry, fiction & nonfiction have been published widely.