In the dream I am doubled.
Gemini-selved. Split sisters
who know each other’s mind.
We walk with our arms
around each other’s waists.
Four eyes seeing the same world.
The difference is: when a man runs up
brandishing shackles and rubies,
one lets go and punches his jaw
while the other stands and watches.
Isn’t this what we want? A separate self
on whom we may blame violence?
Tell me it isn’t. Tell me you wouldn’t
applaud such smart defense. The sisters walk
along the shore. One eyes the bladed shells.
If called on, she will rend and pierce.
And I would give anything for this.
A telepathic second cup, a vehicle for rage.
Catherine Kyle
Catherine Kyle holds a Ph.D. in English from Western Michigan University. She teaches at the College of Western Idaho and writes grants for The Cabin, a literary nonprofit. She is the author and illustrator of the hybrid-genre collection Feral Domesticity (Robocup Press, 2014); the author of the poetry chapbooks Flotsam (Etched Press, 2015) and Gamer: A Role-Playing Poem (dancing girl press, 2015); and a co-editor of Goddessmode (Cool Skull Press, 2015). She also helps run the Ghosts & Projectors poetry reading series. Her graphic narratives, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in The Rumpus, Superstition Review, WomenArts Quarterly, and elsewhere.
Artist: Brooke Shaden, “The One and the Other One”
Website: http://brookeshaden.com/gallery/
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