Above Whispers at Twenty-One
Jim tried to kiss you at midnight
The cowbell shook small explosions to celebrate
You were the stark obvious zebra
In a room this is how the year started
Cornered you heard confessions
The girl he brought says she was raped
When? A long time ago she was raped
The minutes barely spent since midnight
The room a whirl for any confessions
Jamaican rum, lime wedges, and tequila to celebrate
This is not how you wanted to start
A story unfolding, brazen, bold as a zebra
Nothing will domesticate a zebra
You struggled to hear details of the rape
Her voice wouldn't stop after it started
The drawl, adrift, then drowning before midnight
The novelty of the year celebrated
Jim left after without a confession
And what of your own confessions
You wanted to run unseen in tall grass with the zebras
On a silent plain without celebrations
Falling as dark stains on white, her narrative, she was raped
It was the first hour after midnight
And hard to delineate where the stripes ever started
A singular wish to finish fast after the start
Was it Jim no admission or confession
A millennium would not arrive after this midnight
Elusive, patterns, black and white wild zebras
Slanted stripes, pluralized and singular rape
Tonight, nothing to be celebrated
Auld Lang Syne segues every year celebrated
The possibility and prospects, the synonymous start
Jim's date above whispers confided she was raped
You listened to her only confession
Jim said your stripes reminded him of zebras
Running from him and the distance of midnight
Spoken tonight, narrow to wide confessions
The harem, the herd, black and white zebras
Galloping untamed, hooves hitting the terrain at midnight
Gina Ferrara lives in New Orleans where she teaches English. She has published three full length collections and two chapbooks. She is an Elizabeth George grant recipient. Her poetry has appeared in places like The Poetry Ireland Review, The Briar Cliff Review, and Oyster River Pages. She currently curates a monthly reading series called The Poetry Buffet.