Emerging BIWOC Poet Spotlight
This monthly series features poems by women of color in the early stages of their publishing careers. It is our intention to create more space at Perugia for the work of poets who are Black, Indigenous, and women of color (BIWOC). We hope using our platform to celebrate this work will expand the readership of the poets we spotlight. This series aligns with Perugia’s mission to support and promote emerging women poets; featured poems will be from poets with no more than one published full-length collection. We’d love to hear from readers with suggestions for poems & poets to feature.
May 2023 Poet: Maya Marshall
Girl Secrets in Her Own Cocoon
To have a door! The back of which she could wake to, smile at, brush her girl lips and hips against. At night, she’d sit cross-legged on the floor, press her knees to the door’s face. In her room, she’d deny her mother entry, adorn herself in costume jewels and pick her hair out round. She’d say yes to her own face, neither too dark nor too much her daddy’s. In her mirror, she’d perfect her smile—with teeth, without—smack her lips, play woman without her mother’s boyfriend telling her feed me a little a this fish. She’d take her cue from Martha Reeves, jerk and gyrate. She wouldn’t need nowhere to run.
Source
All the Blood Involved in Love, Haymarket Books, 2022
Poet Bio
Maya Marshall is the author of the poetry collection All the Blood Involved in Love and the chapbook Secondhand. She is cofounder of underbelly, the journal on the practical magic of poetic revision. Marshall is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Adelphi University. Twitter: @mayaAmarshall; IG @maya.marshall.16.