The Forceps of War
written by: Laurel Benjamin
curled inside the safe-room // she remembers
floating in a sea of hospital-
white minerals with her mother
a bullet
screams // illumination
she texts they’re coming
the last anyone hears //
// after
someone has to milk the cows
they took her // they left her body // they burned the saferoom
all these things are true
// now there is only rust
a girl’s doll // porcelain dirt-covered arms
// pried off
rain resolves the pasture
calves are pulled out //
tuck into blue // despite wells wrought dry
Laurel Benjamin holds an MFA from Mills College. She is a San Francisco Bay Area native, where she invented a secret language with her brother. Affiliated with the Bay Area Women’s Poetry Salon and Ekphrastic Writers, she is a reader for Common Ground Review and has featured in the Lily Poetry Salon. Her work is forthcoming or published in Lily Poetry Review, Pirene's Fountain, The Shore, Sheila-Na-Gig, Mom Egg Review. Her poetry has been nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize.
Latest posts by Laurel Benjamin (see all)
- The Forceps of War - March 10, 2024
