The Girl in the Church Door Speaks by Maria Martin
I was supposed to
pray, and cry, and pray then make myself into
a wall or a cabinet. I am a wall or a cabinet.
I’ll hold your things inside me.
And I am in a church, there’s bread and floors
cut out around me. So much for do me no harm.
I spilt the cup; come lick it up;
I met a man; they call me mother.
No, a woman will not understand, she thinks,
the whole world’s made for an afternoon!
and oft can be found writing diaries, this is to say:
a mouth may be stuffed
by the eye of one creature,
so stick the fat crumbs to my tongue.
How long can a girl be sixteen, seventeen and
hold it all
on her tongue?
pray, and cry, and pray then make myself into
a wall or a cabinet. I am a wall or a cabinet.
I’ll hold your things inside me.
And I am in a church, there’s bread and floors
cut out around me. So much for do me no harm.
I spilt the cup; come lick it up;
I met a man; they call me mother.
No, a woman will not understand, she thinks,
the whole world’s made for an afternoon!
and oft can be found writing diaries, this is to say:
a mouth may be stuffed
by the eye of one creature,
so stick the fat crumbs to my tongue.
How long can a girl be sixteen, seventeen and
hold it all
on her tongue?
Maria Martin is a poet in Charleston, SC. Her work has appeared in Lockjaw Magazine, and is forthcoming in Painted Bride Quarterly, The Indianola Review, and The Superstition Review.
Paul Luikart is an artist and writer living in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In addition to writing and drawing, he directs a shelter for homeless families.