| InterBoard Poetry Competition | |
AT THE ART GALLERY, A WOMAN
Judy Goodwin
(South Carolina Writer’s Workshop)
Dark things come out of me, she said
and opened her mouth
right there, next to the lemon poppyseed
muffins and chai teas,
parted her thin ribbed lips
and showed me her throat.
It was full of something
coiled. Leaning close to my face,
she rolled her eyes. Her laughter
rose between us on small black wings,
left a dampness on my cheek.
Later across the gallery, I saw her passing pamphlets
and brochures to visitors. Nothing dark
apparently, but high above in the rafters
there might have been movement.
She saw me watching
and winked.
Judge David Biespiel’s comments: “Odd & funny & immediate, the poem is comfortable as both a trifle & a record of strange clarity.”
About the InterBoard Poetry Competition
Archive of IBPC Winners
