Poetry by Susan Cossette

                            ​M I T C H Ǝ L L CC



Genesis

In the beginning was the girl.
Born of no man’s bone or flesh--
The girl was faultless.
 
Blonde, or red.
Her hair can be straight, curly--
Her hips have curves, or none.
 
She can play sports, like science.
She can love girls, or men, or both.
She can color her lips blood red,
The walls of her bedroom shell pink--
Watch the afternoon sun kiss the lace curtains,
And see that it is all good.
 
The girl can write poetry.
She can write code.
She can write legislation.
 
Our daughters paint tiny colored stones,
Leave them by the roadside,
Talismans for their sisters--
 
Yeah, we’re still here.
Pass it on.
 
In the beginning was the girl.
Physicist, poet, hooker,
Charlatan, housekeeper,
Kept woman, president, CEO.
Whatever.
 
Alpha and omega,
Pleasing to the goddess.
Naked, but not ashamed.
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Susan Cossette is the author of Peggy Sue Messed Up (2017).  A two-time recipient of the University of Connecticut’s Wallace Stevens Poetry Prize, her work has appeared in Rust and Moth, Adelaide, Clockwise Cat, Anti-Heroin Chic, The Scarecrow and in the anthologies Tuesdays at Curley’s and After the Equinox.  A recent transplant to Minneapolis, she is active in the local spoken word community.  More of her work may be found at musepalace.wordpress.com.

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