As if my father, the stalker, once said to me, Girl,
as if he said, Girl, while overhead
a bare-bulb lit the scene,
unblinkingly, blinding the room's shadows.
Girly girl, as if binding my hands
and wagging one gloved finger under my nose,
Tsk, tsk. Daddy always knows. As if he danced
from heel to toe and taped my mouth. You are
my baby girl. His face wet with tears,
as if he scrunched and posed,
Oh my little girly girl, my crumb cake icing
doll, don’t cry. As though he was lining up
his instruments all in a row.
Amy Riddell has published poems in such literary journals as Birmingham Poetry Review, Prick of the Spindle, Blue Fifth Review, Peaks and Valleys, Chickenpinata, and Black Warrior Review. Her poetry chapbook Narcissistic Injury was recently published by Pudding House, and she has poems forthcoming in Prairie Schooner and Blue Fifth Review. She is an assistant professor of English at Northwest Florida State College. "Interrogation" is from Narcissistic Injury.
Riddell will be reading at the Prick of the Spindle - Dogzplot Reading in Pensacola on June 19 along with J. Bradley, Dawn Corrigan, Benjamin Lowenkron, Erin McKnight, Cynthia Reeser, and Elizabeth Westmark. Dogzplot's Barry Graham, author of The National Virginity Pledge, will be videotaping the event.
Archived at http://girlswithinsurance.com/index.php/poetry/42-poetry/235-ar-0610-interrogation and shortlinked at http://frsh.in/c8
