A Dozen Times
by Anastacia Tolbert
brave egg
cracked a dozen times
& still—you say yes. spill yourself in the hungry skillet
your bright yellow fading
your fluid hardened
so that they will not know
your skin has been bruised
that you stood
holding yourself together
shaky inside your shell
Anastacia Tolbert is a multifarious mix of grit, sunshine, alphabet juice & butterflies getting rooted in Japan. She is a writer of poetry, prose, plays, and journalism. She wrote, co-produced and co-directed GOTBREAST?, a documentary about women and body image. Tolbert is a Cave Canem Fellow, Hedgebrook Alumna, EDGE Professional Writers Alum, and VONA Alum. Her poetry, fiction, nonfiction has been published widely. More about her work can be found at www.anastaciatolbert.com
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