The Girl I Was, by M.J. Iuppa

A Little Night Music, by Dorothea Tanning (USA). 1943.

The Girl I Was 
             
​Sunflower, taller than a man, brighter than the star
that warms earth, with broad leaves that pull

me close to its golden face—hypnotic eye with
steadfast stare—I am struck by its caress . . .

What happened to me
under this pocket of  stars?
 
I feel weak, stepping into indigo shallows,
with my arms loose at my sides, my blouse

split open to my waist.

No wind to speak of, or a distant bonfire
with shadows dancing wild, I clench

my fist around the golden petal I stole
from the sunflower’s brow— proof, but

no one cares. I become an excuse for
carrying on. The moon anoints me with

its silky light, making me part of night’s
spellbinding silence.

M.J. Iuppa

M.J. Iuppa  is the Director of the Visual and Performing Arts Minor Program and Lecturer in Creative Writing at St. John Fisher College; and since 2000 to present, is a part time lecturer in Creative Writing at The College at Brockport. Since 1986, she has been a teaching artist, working with students, K-12, in Rochester, NY, and surrounding area. She has three full length poetry collections, most recently Small Worlds Floating (2016) as well as Within Reach (2010) both from Cherry Grove Collections; Night Traveler (Foothills Publishing, 2003); and 5 chapbooks. She lives on a small farm in Hamlin NY.