Guest Post: Sharp-Harlan F. Baudelaire

Last night,
during a perfectly normal
dinner,
I swallowed a sharp chip and it stuck

in my chest
before cutting
all the way down
from the inside out.

In my space
sharing the same air
you failed
to see the moment of pain.

Reserved,
with a sip of water,
I went on
in silence.

This morning,
during a perfectly normal
cup of coffee,
I gasp

the cut still aches
along with a thousand other
cuts made from
sharp words

swallowed in silence
that slice
all the way down
from the inside out.

detached,
with a sip of water,
I go on
in quiet.

---

Harlan’s poetry explores the emotional and often concealed existence of women. In 2018, she has several works published by The Whisper and the Roar, A Feminist Literary Collective and Tiny Flames Press. Harlan is currently completing her first chapbook, The Music of Whispering Horses and Other Lies, which she plans to present in late 2019.

You can read more of her writing here.