happy weekend from spiderweb salon! how about a little sunday afternoon poetry? in continuing with our celebration of national poetry month, today we're featuring local poet & friend of the spiderweb, Rachel Renea and her piece entitled On My Mouth. Rachel will be also be joining us next saturday, april 22, for our Poetry Party! please enjoy her poem & prompt & be sure to check out all the great poets we have featured so far this month- there is an astounding amount of talent here!
Rachel's prompt is a wonderful exercise in compassion & perspective: Think about the person who has hurt you most in life. Then put yourself in their shoes; fully occupy their emotional and mental landscape. Write a poem, a story, or a vignette from their perspective. Edit objectively to ensure your creation is rounded.
On My Mouth
I.
Once my dentist said it reminded her of Hilary Swank.
My lips went from spread-eagled, chapped in a chair
to feeling like the million dollar baby.
Hot damn, I thought. I was hot.
So I left, sidled up to a bar, waited for a drink.
II.
No damn drink ever shows. So, then I think maybe
she just meant it was a big one. Like how you hear
guys talk about Julia Roberts’ like it’s all ugly or
something even though girls think it’s really pretty.
Or, maybe it’s as bad as bucktooth Annie.
III.
It could be even worse. What if she just meant like
I never once keep it shut – the way my sister told
her entire English class, my little sister’s mouth is like
a 7-11: it’s always open, never closed.
IV.
Because everyone knows a blabbering idiot is just that.
-- And, what if that’s all I am? --
My only solace is to take a swig with it, consider its space
never once had any complaints from my lovers.
Rachel Renea received her B.A. in Economics and International Relations and completed her M.A. in Humanities-Aesthetic Studies. She is a former Poetry Editor and Fiction Editor for Reunion: The Dallas Review, and she has participated in local poetry and fiction readings at UNT, UTD, and Spiderweb Salon. For her writer's retreat, Rachel hides in the bathroom with her phone when she wants to escape her day job or her little person to raise.
Rachel Renea reading at spiderweb salon's memorial show for j&js dirty ol' basement | photo by courtney marie | 2016