Confession + Tire Swing

“you can’t tell me / to reconcile / all the being i’ve done / kneeling at a pew / lined with past lives / i’ll think i’m there to celebrate / to sing”

PoetrySubmissionOctober 5, 2020poetry, poetry by women, poetry for womxn, poetry by womxnComment

Good Luck + Grannies

“I can see four-leafed clovers in the grass because / I have magic in my blood. / My parents would say it’s because / we were Irish before we were American.”

PoetrySubmissionSeptember 21, 2020poems, poetry, poetry by women, poetry for womxn, poetry by womxnComment

SWARM + SNAKE

“Girls sometimes roil / with fear they say / we’d do anything / to avoid a sting run shrieking / like our mothers but they / mishear buzzing for screams”

PoetrySubmissionSeptember 14, 2020poem, poems, bees, snakes, swarm, poetry, poetry by women, poetry for womxnComment

Becoming Whole Again

“…i was told that if it looked / like this / then / it was wrong / that i would need mending…”

Ripen

“the myth is, you and i tell each other we are / beautiful, precious, rare creatures, we are beholden / but we are scarred, i only have one gift: / surviving a horror movie with my song”

PoetrySubmissionMarch 9, 2020stephanie valente, poetry, poem, poetry by women, poetry for womxn, witches, creatrixComment

pagans have more fun

the needle skips, you pour more salt. i’m not fucking listening, / i promise. throw scripture into static—rip

petty pruned plain

to be filled up / and begging for more / (when the womb is dying) / all expectant and graped / and waiting.

The Stages of Identity

My identity isn’t something I’m ashamed about. Being bisexual is part of who I am. And I’ve been comfortable with who I am for quite a while now, despite all the messy feelings and questioning as I came to know myself.