January 2022
Emily Black
eblack@asrsystems.ws
eblack@asrsystems.ws
Bio Note: I was the second woman to graduate from the University of Florida in Civil Engineering, and then went to on to engage in a long engineering career as the only woman in a sea of men. I also hold additional licenses as a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and as a massage therapist. Lately I’ve been writing vignettes of my life, which pour out like they’d been sitting on a shelf in my mind. I wear nail polish called, "Fire Engine Red."
Absolution
Roe v. Wade is on the chopping block
at the Supreme Court again.
Adolescent memories of tales about botched,
bloody coat-hanger abortions still haunt me.
Tears of fright and dread drown me in shame.
Rape left me broken in mind, body and spirit,
The church was no comfort, I was marked,
might as well wear a scarlet letter.
It took years, years, of sublimation steeped
in my studies, a shelter from such a cruel world.
I decided on a journey to youth and innocence.
A journey to happiness in the Kingdom
of Childhood that had been stolen from me at age 12.
Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails is what I’m made of.
My sugar and spice have been eaten. If I seem sweet
it is because I was brought up that way, but under
that creamy frosting is steel, steel forged in battle.
I have fought to rise like a butterfly, a ravenous butterfly.
I wield my steel sword, not in battle, but to confer
knighthood upon the regal glories of everyday life.
©2022 Emily Black
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