Nancy Scott Verse-Virtual 2017 September

September 2017

I began writing fiction forty years ago and it took me forty years to get the same work published recently in several different millennial journals. Goes to show timing is everything. I've been luckier with my poetry. I am the managing editor of U.S.1 Worksheets and author of nine books of poetry, most importantly those poems about poverty and social justice issues, but also about men and humor and travel. www.nancyscott.net

The Book Reviewer

She writes a review of my new book, sends me
a draft, wants to know if I have any comments.

There are sixty-one poems about men
who influenced my life. Why did she single out

a poem about a 14-year-old who sneaks into the USO
and becomes smitten with a cute sailor, who presses her

beyond French kissing before he ships out? The Navy
doesn’t need more publicity about sexual assault.

Maybe she had an affair with a naval officer that ended
badly or imagines some other guy in uniform,

with a swagger, tinted glasses, his hand on his holster,
when he pulls her over and orders her out of the car.

I suggest a more upbeat poem might better illustrate
the intent of the book. How about selecting from

poems about relationships with men of color?
I thought that would be a spoiler, she said.

Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to tell him or her. You might say what it is about the poem that moves you. Writing to the author is the beginning of community at Verse Virtual. It is very important. -FF