Defining Terms, 1963
- Defining Terms, 1963
My mother said, Do something with yourself, which meantleave me alone.
Ruth, my GYN—now dead—said, Stop f-ing around, which meantget married, settle down, forget the abortion you don't have
the cash for. I settled for a poison-tipped wire insertedin my uterus right at home on my sky-blue Martex sheets.
The first time didn't work, Ruth said, It's still there. I can'tbe involved in this, which meant remove my name from
your address book and don't call me from the emergency room.The second go, no extra charge. A couple days later, I creamed
whatever it was into the toilet. My boyfriend asked, How did it go,which meant what did I now think of him.
I tossed out the gauze, rinsed the wire. [End Page 72]
First girl called to the bima in her Baltimore synagogue—a joyful, independent pattern set. Study in an egalitarian chavurah, consciousness raising, arguing with the text, outrage ... all shape her life's work: teaching, writing, parenting. Lee's poems and reviews have appeared in Quarterly West, the Gay & Lesbian Review, Phoebe, Berkshire Review, Magma, Chronogram, Passager, Women & Environments, and others. Her chapbook, Weeds, was published by Finishing Line Press.
