By julie paul
At the crossroads of the crotch
begins the vulval buzz:
ten thousand bees,
lips on a trumpet.
Together we ride the road
that tempts the sea
to rise; leather to leather
we lean through every curve together—
your shoulder dips
and machinery follows.
Behind you, I sit, breathe
lilacs red currant mock orange
half my cells spring-lullabied,
the others all a-shimmy, alert only
to the growl of little explosions
between our legs.
Julie Paul has published two collections of short fiction, The Jealousy Bone (Emdash, 2008) and The Pull of the Moon (Brindle & Glass, 2014). The Pull of the Moon made the Globe and Mail’s list of Top 100 books of 2014, was awarded a bronze IPPY award and most recently won the Victoria Book Prize. She is currently at work on a poetry manuscript, a novel and more stories in Victoria, BC, Canada. More info can be found at www.juliepaul.ca.
Art: “Fine” by featured artist Erika Glass
Erika Glass is a 21 year old senior at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. She will graduate in May with a degree in English and hopes to begin a Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Fall 2016. Erika is a Lancaster native, and typically works with watercolor and pencil in her visual art.