Venus in Bloom
by Wanda Deglane
Deglane’s Venus in Bloom is a micro collection of poems about women, their bodies, the way dreams haunt and change, and the power and vulnerability in growing up. It’s about perception, worth, and reclaiming, fighting through judgment offered up by other bodies, where “oceans boil themselves into silence.” This is a reclaiming of agency, an “I can’t be your yes girl, no, not anyone’s” girl, a person learning to be fierce, cutting off thorns, numbing, but also “shopping for a bigger body to house all this grief.” This girl is a vulnerable girl learning her strengths, numbness, mistakes, wishes, dreaming of flight. A girl with more, a complicated person coming into being, with more to learn, to give, to say no to.
24 pages
open edition
Additional Info
FIGHT/FLIGHT/FREEZE
I was never the fighting girl, the fists swinging wildly, you’ll
never take me alive girl. my mouth was never quick enough to
bite, my body doubly slow. I was a deer in headlights girl, a
roots shooting through my feet keep me frozen to the ground
girl. never no’s from my lips, only yeses stolen from my tongue
before I could even breathe. yes, I love this haircut. yes, you can
talk to me that way. yes, I want this. yes, you can fuck me. yes. yes. yes.
I want to be a mouth open-wide girl. I want to devour the
world until I forget how bad it tastes, scream no over and
over until my throat bleeds and it kills me. no longer the
frozen girl, the dead and motionless girl, the let them take all
they need from my corpse girl. I learned to be a runaway girl, a one
taste of love and already on my way girl, scissors gripped tight
in my frightened fists, always snip-snipping. you say, where’s
the fire, girl? I’m holding your heart in my hands I know it hurts but I
swear, I swear I won’t squeeze, girl. this is something beautiful. this is
something right. don’t be afraid now, I won’t let you down. but I can’t
be your yes girl, no, not anyone’s.
ABOUT THE POET
Wanda Deglane is a night-blooming desert flower from Arizona. She is the daughter of Peruvian immigrants and attends Arizona State University, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology and family & human development. Her poetry has been published or forthcoming from Rust + Moth, Glass Poetry, L’Ephemere Review, and Former Cactus, among other lovely places. Wanda self published her first poetry book, Rainlily, in 2018.
ABOUT THE COVER
Sharmon Davidson has been a graphic designer, a full-time mother, and a teacher, and has exhibited professionally for over 25 years, winning several awards, and appearing in various publications. Davidson’s work originates from a deep belief in the sanctity and interconnection of everything in the universe, which she seeks to communicate through a vocabulary of personal symbols. She is currently represented by the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen Gallery in Berea, Kentucky.
NOTES
Work in this chapbook previously appeared in magazines such as SOFT CARTEL, Terse Journal, Milk + Beans, Bone & Ink Press, petrichor, and Glass Poetry.