Bad Woman

A person lies next to me

Someone’s arm wraps tenderly around my waist
So sweetly this fingertip circles my hipbone

I know this person’s name

An owl circling the chimney
Eyes like brick

Eating the songbird

I forget this arm has fingers
When I say I can hear two

eyes opening and closing

I mean are they looking at me
both heads on gray pillows

one nose toward one ear one nose toward one ceiling

I am not planning on falling asleep
when the plan was to fall asleep

Angry that this is all that is left in the dark

Sleep when I’d rather escape head first
through the window the bed is facing

through glass and metal and plastic onto the grass

Are you blinking?
Yes

What are you thinking about?

Things. I don’t know
The bed makes a crunching as I turn my back to the voice

I thought the dove coos

were owls in the daytime
owls in holes in trees wide awake

whenever someone could hear them yelling


Sheila.McMullin

Sheila McMullin is the Assistant Editor for VIDA: Women in Literary Arts where she writes the column “Spotlight On!” celebrating literary magazines that publish a diverse representation of writers and is a Contributing Editor for ROAR Magazine. She works as an after-school creative writing and college prep instructor and volunteers at her local animal rescue. Find her online atwww.moonspitpoetry.com.


 

Sheila McMullin
Sheila McMullin curates the feminist and artist resource website, MoonSpit Poetry, where a list of her publications can also be found. She is the Assistant Managing Editor for VIDA: Women in Literary Arts where she writes the column “Spotlight On!” celebrating literary magazines that publish a diverse representation of writers. She is a Contributing Editor for ROAR Magazine: A Journal of the Literary Arts by Women and Outreach Coordinator for District Lit. Her chapbook collection, Like Water, has received notable attention from Ahsahta Press, New Delta Review, and Black Lawrence Press. She works as an after-school creative writing and college prep instructor, and volunteers at her local animal rescue.