April 2012
1 post
“Narrative Nipple is now accepting submissions for its next issue: prose, poetry,...”
February 2012
10 posts
I Many Times Thought
by Emily Dickinson
I many times thought peace had come When peace was far away, As wrecked men deem they sight the land When far at sea they stay. And struggle slacker, but to prove, As hopelessly as I, That many the fictitious shores Before the harbor lie.
In memory of Rachel and Susan, whose peace has come. And for those of us who remain to strive toward the harbour, standing...
You
by Shelia McWade
Check the door. Go back and check the door. You did close it and lock it and it is secure but you’re running back to check. Fool! What were you thinking, actually thinking when you closed the door not a minute ago and turned the key in the lock to lock the door, lock the house? See, it’s closed and it’s locked and the house is secure and you can go about your business now,...
1 tag
November 2011
9 posts
Rejoice and Fight
By Sara K Boghdan
I used to live in the world and then cancer came. It took my breast and my trust and left no one to blame. I used to know who I was and how I came to be. I once could smile and could laugh for all the world to see. Fear of pain and death and strife taunt me day by day. They try to take and smash my heart and tell me they will stay. But now I know a secret truth that fills me up...
Butterfly
By Barbara Monahan
She remains in her darkness. Her focus on food and work are distractions from the real challenges. And there are thoughts about how her body feels different.
What does it matter? Does anything matter?
Being with darkness, feeling the not feeling, questioning, listening, discovery. Continuous chiming among them. She has no energy for it though. It is like her being belongs to...
It Wasn't Right
By Parvez Dara
It wasn’t right. The air was clear, The day was crisp, The light, bright. It wasn’t right. The night was moonless, The Wind was calm, The stars shone bright. It wasn’t right. That plans were made, The future was planned, And the time just right. It wasn’t right! It wasn’t right! It wasn’t right! It wasn’t right! But the day turned cold, The night, black And the cold winds blew, The...
October 2011
9 posts
3 tags
3 tags
The Babe
By Caroline Healy
Cancer suckles her breast, His clawing digits knead her breast, His eager tongue needs her breast, His avid thirst unquenched, As upon her knees she stands erect. A haze of ash flecks her cheeks, upturned. Suckling sucked suckered, Her days numbered.
Upon her knees she rests, ashen flecked, The bundle of detest swaddled near her breast, His ravaging hunger unchecked, His lips...
Mammogram
By Jackie Fox
Last spring, as breasts were pressed like keepsake flowers, the ominous image emerged, nearly obscured by swirling clouds of dense tissue. A tiny constellation of brilliant specks, traitorous cells made manifest as light. This spring, the bright white globe of augmentation curves like a moon, clouds reduced to cirrus overhead. Its twin cold and dark, fading scars tracing ...
4 tags
Woman with lump
By Sarah Evans
Turning up on an empty stomach at the clinic, I wonder why it is I’ve come. A Well Woman check. I have no reason to suppose I’m ill; it seems perverse to seek out ways in which I might be.
The check-up comes free with work. I always was a sucker for free offers.
I fill in forms, then sit and wait. The reception area boasts comfy chairs, pale green walls and bland music. The nurse...
3 tags
Glossary of Terms
By Kim Lucas
Procedure: Feels like an operation. Costs like an operation. But if it were an operation then we’d have to keep you overnight, and we’re sending you home.
A pinch: This is going to feel like you’re being jabbed with a needle. Because you’re being jabbed with a needle.
Pressure: Imagine an elephant. Balanced on one leg. On your body.
Discomfort: As Sarah McLachlan sang, “Hold...
September 2011
1 post
4 tags
