Set Free
- Set Free
Inside her private wilderness she hides whatever makes her feel unsure: the words her father spoke when she was ten or twelve,
about her ass and its resemblance to her mother’s, a spread of clotted pimples and of cratered places where the fat subsides,
upheld by latex and rubber and then set free inside a terry robe or a rose-print shift, a loose and earthy wrap that keeps her safe.
She hid the fact the older neighbor boy made her stand on an abandoned crate and pull her panties down and spread her legs
and how he stood, his heavy head tipped back for such a length of time her knees began to shake and she thought she might fly away. [End Page 147]
athena kildegaard is the author of four books of poetry; a fifth is due in March 2018 from Tinderbox Editions. Her poems have been read by Garrison Keillor, set to music by various composers, and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She lives and teaches in Morris, Minnesota.
