For once a man is gentle with my body.
Will the world remember my blood
birthed a divine gift? Not a mulberry tree,
but of gore to white. Even in death,
I am used for gain. I am cursed, a virus of truth.
Will your little ones be brave,
stare into my maternal gaze of rape and wisdom?

Laine Derr is a graduate of Northern Arizona University’s MFA Creative Writing program, has published interviews with Carl Phillips and Ross Gay, and is currently based in Rockville, MD.