Ramshackle Review

By Tongues

by Jessica Bell

My friends adored you.

When you’d pick me up

from school they’d stare

at your eyebrows—logos

of gothism—fake lesbianism.

You were a like a big sister;

rock ‘n’ roll baby!—the woman

they all wanted to be.

You’d invite them over

for afternoon tea.

You’d coax them into talking

about sex, masturbation,

homosexuals; you’d express

insight—laissez-faire

toward the boy who

tried on my school dress.

You’d trick them into

betraying my secrets—the girl

I pashed behind the shelter

shed; the one with epilepsy

who liked to lie and got

pregnant from my tongue.

My friends never knew

what happened after they left.

Jessica Bell is an Australian who lives in Athens, Greece. She's a literary women's fiction author and poet whose debut poetry collection, Twisted Velvet Chains, has just been released this May. Her debut novel String Bridge is scheduled to be published by Lucky Press LLC in November, 2011. A list of published works can be seen on her website, www.jessicacbell.com. She also posts four days a week on her blog.