inside the bound woman is another, who loves to dance, who rode the wind above a snowstorm, once, wild & high.

right now she is lying squashed, flat, in the basement of the belly of the bound woman.

she is paralyzed from the neck down.

her mouth keeps opening keeps opening keeps opening, she is trying to say something, to remember, she is trying to tell us -

how she fell into the basement, how she was pushed into it, under the slab of concrete, how long she's been lying there, hardly breathing, who it was that pushed her there

in spite of her love for this man, in spite of her love

inside the paralyzed woman inside the bound woman is another, whose breathing is proud & free, who stretches past concrete, past paralyzed cells

whispering, remember me, me

for Diana

- di brandt

From Prairie Fire, Vol. 15, No.1, Spring 1994, pg. 59. Used by permission.