Why the Banshee Prefers Being Seen, Not Heard
by J. Bradley

There is no truth in keening.
I use the loom of my dry
tear ducts to weave histories
worth wearing in winter; never
will I clap over the way
she wore his fist like moons.

I won't cry for how he filled
bottles with his children's names
and threw them against the wall.

When his widow sees me, I know
she will wear her grief like makeup
and wait for the right moment
to clean it off with a thank you.

 

J. BRADLEY is the author of the poetry collection Dodging Traffic (Ampersand Books). His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in PANK, decomP, DOGZPLOT, Welter, >kill author, The November 3rd Club, Suss, and others. His performance work is featured in Pedestal Magazine, Indiefeed, and Idiolexicon. In 1985, he dabbled in journalism when he interviewed Emmanual Lewis with a Spider-Man PEZ dispenser.

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