- In My Rush
after Gaston Lachaise’s DANS LA NUIT, 1935
The first time I saw myselfreflected in well water,
I became light. Now no one knowshow to hold me. A valley is nothing
but the lowest point in the curveof a woman’s hip; a river—nothing—
if not her sway. Lightbearer translatesto Lucifer. I still want to be held. Hold me
like sound—in your throat,with your breath, on your tongue.
I’ll be a river on purpose.We’ll make a braid of our legs. [End Page 98]
Jonterri Gadson is the author of the chapbook Pepper Girl (YesYes Books, 2012). She is the recipient of fellowships from Bread Loaf, Cave Canem, and the University of Virginia’s Creative Writing MFA program. She currently serves as the Herbert W. Martin Post-Graduate Creative Writing Fellow at the University of Dayton.