"Remember the Boys" by Rachel McKibbens

chucking rocks at the wasps' nest, 

Support Poem-a-Day January 23, 2020   Remember the Boys Rachel McKibbens   chucking rocks at the wasps' nest, their gathered hum then sudden sting at the nape of my neck. Oh, how I paid— still pay—for the recklessness of boys. Little Bretts. Little Jeffs. Little knives to my breast.  How lucky they were to never  be held down, to never see their voices crawl the air like fire! How desperately I yearned to be them, to storm the halls in macho gospel: matching blue jackets, blood-filled posture and made-you-flinch.  How different would I be,  how much bigger, if I had been given room enough to be  a country's golden terror?  Copyright © 2020 by Rachel McKibbens. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on January 23, 2020, by the Academy of American Poets.   "I wrote this poem a few months after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's stunning testimony about Brett Kavanaugh. Her story affected me deeply, and Kavanaugh's response to it reminded me of an incident in high school involving a star football player I confronted on behalf of a young woman he had harmed. So much of my youth was wasted on wishing I'd been born a boy. I believed, for too long, that femininity was synonymous with victimhood. I'm grateful to have evolved from that mindset." —Rachel McKibbens Rachel McKibbens is the author of blud (Copper Canyon Press, 2017). She lives in Rochester, New York. Blud (Copper Canyon Press, 2017) "Another Small Gathering" by Lindsay Bernal  read more "You & the Raw Bullets" by Rose Alcalá  read more Thanks to Meg Day, author of Last Psalm at Sea Level (Barrow Street, 2014), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read an extended Q&A about Day's curatorial approach and find out more about our guest editors for the year. Make a one-time contribution to help us publish Poem-a-Day.  Make your support go further by enrolling in monthly giving and joining the Mug Club! From Our Sponsors Copyright © 2020 The Academy of American Poets, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: The Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane St #901 New York, NY 10038 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.