by Jim Ross
after birth
like a fierce river sprouting
from a dew-eyed mountain
she emerged from the crevice
of her mother’s dark womb
a slick and squirming force
that pushed its way
into a world intent on stifling
her on assigning her to a confined space
but she made herself known with a chilling cry
a scream to wake the drowsy to shake
the complacent from their sweat-soaked beds
she wouldn’t be another faceless Jane
this one would scorch the earth
this one would ride her motorcycle
through the diner window
make her stand on the flecked Formica table
like a revolutionary with nothing to lose
her birth cord, slashed and trailing
like a red flag of flaming anger
Corbett Buchly’s poems have appeared in more than 35 different journals, including, Rio Grande Review, Plainsongs, Black Manifold, SLAB, and Barrow Street. He is an alumnus of Texas Christian University and the professional writing program at the University of Southern California. He resides in Northeast Texas with his wife and two sons. You can read his blog at buchly.com, and you can follow him on social media at instagram.com/cbuchly, facebook.com/CorbettBuchly, and x.com/WordsAreMessy.
Jim Ross jumped into creative pursuits in 2015 after a rewarding research career. With graduate degree from Howard University, in ten years he’s published nonfiction, fiction, poetry, photography, hybrid, interviews, and plays in over 200 journals on five continents. Best-of-the-Net nominated in nonfiction and art, his photo publications include Barnstorm, Camas, Feral, Phoebe, and Stonecoast. Photo-essays include Burningword, Kestrel, Litro, New World Writing, Pilgrimage, Sweet, and Typehouse. Jim’s family splits time between city and mountains.