New Poem: “Girls I’ve Known” by Elaine Equi

S. who even in kindergarten wore a perpetually startled look.

K. who of all The Beatles loved Ringo best and claimed the boy she babysat was his illegitimate child.

R. who looked like an Indian princess. You knew she’d be pregnant by junior year.

B. my boss who was shorter than me, who forced me to climb a ladder to hang paper shamrocks and hearts when I worked with her in the card shop where the seasons were always changing.

S.G. my sister soulmate. For seven years we drank beer, smoked pot, hitchhiked, shoplifted, and listened to music. Our friendship was more like a marriage.

D. who waitressed with me and convinced me I needed to take EST.

Elaine Equi’s latest book is Out of the Blank from Coffee House Press. Her other books include Voice-Over, which won the San Francisco State Poetry Award; Ripple Effect: New & Selected Poems, which was a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Award and on the short list for the Griffin Poetry Prize; and The Intangibles. Widely published and anthologized, her work has appeared in the American Poetry Review, Brooklyn Rail, Big Other, and many other journals. She has taught in the creative writing programs at New York University, City College of New York, and The New School.

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