Editorial Board Selection ~ May 18, 2012

what's in a name (that's not my name) ~ by Catherine Edmunds
 
it doesn't matter what I call you
peter-paul-joseph-aleksandr-potemkim

all I know is that when you said 
you were leaving without any further delay
and I brushed your cheek with feathered fingers,
a sparrow-hawk fearing its prey would fly -- 
your anger
flayed me

I might be giselle, but to you that day
I was chardonnay-bethany-britney-sharon
a pony-tailed kitten with unlikely cleavage
a whisper of ribbon, a pretty pink paperclip

my name is margaux-desert-orchid
anna-magnani-lollobrigida 
I wear dark glasses, my jeans are tight
and I'm spilling over the top of my bra
for you for you for you for you --  

oh, peter-paul-joseph-eugene-onegin
slip back into my life tonight
between my sheets my thighs my lips

before I forget your name

Published by Fleeting Magazine