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 is a San Francisco Bay Area poet, active with the Women’s Poetry Salon. She curates Ekphrastic Writers and is a reader for Common Ground Review. Current publications: Pirene's Fountain, Lily Poetry Review, Cider Press Review, Taos Journal of Poetry, Mom Egg Review, Gone Lawn, Nixes Mate. Cider Press Review Book Award finalist, Honorable Mention for the Ruben Rose Memorial Poetry Competition, and Pushcart Prize nominee, Laurel holds an MFA from Mills College. She invented a secret language with her brother.
Latest posts by Laurel Benjamin (see all)
- The Forceps of War - March 10, 2024
