Gnashing Teeth Publishing

| words that get in your teeth

There is the Thick July Heat – Alyssa May Trifone

Alyssa Mae Trifone Author Photo

THERE IS THE THICK JULY HEAT,

and then there are the boys,
standing waist-deep
in a party of lily pads, hollering
my name. They are begging
me to throw my body off the bridge,
down to their hungering
teenage hands waiting in the river
below. Being wanted is a faraway myth
I am still not sure I believe
in, but it feels good to be noticed;
so I leap. Their hands surround
me when I land, lifting my body
into the air as if I am a trophy
and they are the winning team;
my body-their victory, an ornament
of desire; desire itself a game
I am not yet sure how to play;
but have learned well what losing
at means. These boys must believe
theirs are the first hands to prize
my body, but I was still sucking my thumb-
six years old- the first time my sex
was weaponized; the first time a man’s pleasure
stained my bed with its violence;
left bite marks on my bruises,
gaslit my body into a perpetual I’m sorry.
My body is forever apologizing
for itself, elbows folded tight
over my chest, hands covering
embarrassed thighs. It’s the hope
of someday forgiveness
that keeps me leaping off of bridges
into dangerous love- the chance
of landing in water that will hold my body
like a prayer, the tantalizing sun licking
my wet skin clean.

Bio – Alyssa May Trifone is a poet living in New England with her fiancee, dog, 3 cats, bunny, guinea pig and mischief of rats. Her work has been previously published by Germ Magazine, Anti-Heroin Chic and Hecate Magazine’s DECAY anthology. When she isn’t writing, she can be found enjoying a pistachio latte, preferably in the sunshine, with a good book.

Sarah White Joins Gnashing Teeth Publishing

We here at Gnashing Teeth Publishing are so excited to announce our newest team member – Sarah White. She joins us as a Social Media Intern. She’ll be working hard

shadow image of a man pushing a cart with a large wheel and small umbrella

Pushcart Prize Nominees for 2023

Gnashing Teeth Publishing is proud to submit the following poems for consideration of the Pushcart Prize. Each of these nominees had work published by us in 2023, whether online or

BOOK REVIEW: gossypiin by Ra Malika Imhotep

Roots, ancestors, bending limbs and time. Ra Malika Imhotep’s gossypiin is a harvest of the experiences and discussions of black women. The meaning of the title, like many of her

The Reflection by Nadia Nunez

What an obscurity energy there’s no serenity A smile is what you’ll never see All you’ll hear is “In memory” Not a single ring on the telephone All you see

connect

we love hearing from you. tell us everything