After Diane Beatty’s Photograph, “History Abandoned”, by Arya F. Jenkins

History Abandoned, by Diane Beatty (USA). Contemporary.

After Diane Beatty’s Photograph, “History Abandoned” 
​
Empty drawers piled high in an attic--
Where else but in a woman’s house
Or in the house of the man who keeps her?
Floor littered with tiles of neglect
The ceiling aches to break free
This is my house
My attic

Drawers
Rows upon rows 
Some opened and emptied
Others locked and secured 

Privy to storms and crimes
Swept to oblivion

Those locked 
Like ossified bones
Refuse to let us see the
Dust of centuries that
Becomes other things

What if in these tiny cells
Women’s voices speak?
What if they sing?

What if among the rafters
Where birds’ feathers catch in flight
Respondent echoes refract 
Like cracks of light
And everywhere, inside and out
Only the whorl of women’s voices
Is heard
Thrumming?

Arya F. Jenkins

Arya F. Jenkins poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in numerous journals and zines such as Agave Magazine, Black Scat Review, Brilliant Corners, Blue Heron Review, Cider Press Review, Dying Dahlia Review, The Feminist Wire, Foliate Oak Literary Magazine, Front Porch Review, KYSO Flash, Otis Nebula, and Provincetown Arts Magazine. Her poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her flash, “Elvis Too” was nominated for the 2017 Write Well Awards by Brilliant Flash Fiction. Her work has appeared in at least three anthologies. She writes jazz fiction for Jerry Jazz Musician, an online zine. Her poetry chapbooks are: Jewel Fire (AllBook Books, 2011) Silence Has A Name (Finishing Line Press, 2016). Her poetry chapbook, Autumn Rumors, has just been accepted by CW Books and is slated for publication September 2018. Her latest blog is https://writersnreadersii.blogspot.com.