Shut Set
By Merrill Cole
show me the shut faces in
faces in shadow
in shadow show me
shut
over what she was saying
he was saying saying you
lend me your tongue or
your time again
your tongue or your life
or lend me your life
and it’s time
no face to stop it
time to say no
face to stop it
only the noose say no
only the noose knows
she didn’t say you said
she set
wet pieces of shudder wet
pieces of shudder
for sale you were saying
red roses wet
pieces of he said
for sale pieces
set
About the Author:
Merrill Cole is Professor of English and Advisor to the Queer Studies minor at Western Illinois University. His poems have appeared in such venues as Bellevue Literary Review, Women's Studies Quarterly, The Main Street Rag, and Spoon River Poetry Review. He is the author of The Other Orpheus: A Poetics of Modern Homosexuality and the translator, from the German, of the 1923 Dances of Vice, Horror, and Ecstasy.
About All Accounts:
All Accounts and Mixture is an annual online feature celebrating the work of LGBTQIA+ writers and artists. For this series, we seek work from authors who self-identify as "queer," while acknowledging that this designation is subjective and highly personal. Our goal is to provide a forum for writers whose voices might be mis- or underrepresented by the literary mainstream. Submissions are open from June 1 to July 1. Poetry, prose, visual art, reviews and interviews will all be considered. Visit Submittable for more details.