Compared to This

Cover image "Between the Knees" by artist John Swinton.

Why the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon

Maybe it had nothing to do with pain;
maybe it was all about hunger.
I can’t remember my parents
saying they had no money to give me
but, even so, I have all the nights before
I would sit in a crowded lunchroom
without anything to eat.I watched them
buy cigarettes and gallons of gin,
cases of beer that came in silver cans,
and I wonder now if maybe this isn’t why
I skipped outsixty consecutive days
with people I hardly knew, hung outat corner markets
sharing junk food bought with found change
until it was time to go home again,
home again. Maybe this is why
I drank myself into a pregnant stupor
in a backseat on prom night.
Maybe this is why, months before that dance,
it happened to me; maybe I wanted him
to shove it inside me, fill me up for once.
Maybe my protests were just Shakespearean
tragedy, an act mot meant to discourage,
but to emphasize irony, a theme.

All I have ever wanted:
someone to help me jump over this moon.

"Adrienne Lewis is one of my favorite poets; her work is accessible, yet precise and exacting in its language. Her poems are personal, haunting, and beautiful." -- Daniel Crocker, Editor of Controlled Burn & Author of People Everyday and Do Not Look Directly Into Me.

"Adrienne Lewis' "Compared to This" confronts the emotional aftermath of rape with courage and honesty, but these are more than confessional poems, they are truly poems. Craftmanship and a sure sense of narrative arc shape the peoms and the collection as a whole, leaving the reader with both a shared sense of outrage and a complex and subtle understanding of the human dimensions that rise far above the idea of victimhood." -- Judith Kerman, Author of Plane Surfaces and Mothering.

"Adrienne Lewis' poetry is gutsy, honest, and smart. It seeks out and successfully finds a balance between academic and underground, using straightforward imagery and clear metaphor without dumbing down the language. "Compared to This" is sometimes sad; sometimes brutal and blunt; sometimes sexy and sassy; but always sure-footed. Adrienne Lewis is a fresh female voice that deserves to be heard." -- Nathan Graziano, Author of Not So Profound and Frostbiite.

Compared to This
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Cover image "Between the Knees" by artist John Swinton. Why the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon Maybe it had nothing to do with pain; maybe it was all about hunger. I can’t remember my parents saying they had no money to give me but, even so, I have all the nights before I would sit in a crowded lunchroom without anything to eat.I watched them buy cigarettes and gallons of gin, cases of beer that came in silver cans, and I wonder now if maybe this isn’t why I skipped outsixty consecutive days with people I hardly knew, hung outat corner markets sharing junk food bought with found change until it was time to go home again, home again. Maybe this is why I drank myself into a pregnant stupor in a backseat on prom night. Maybe this is why, months before that dance, it happened to me; maybe I wanted him to shove it inside me, fill me up for once. Maybe my protests were just Shakespearean tragedy, an act mot meant to discourage, but to emphasize irony, a theme. All I have ever wanted: someone to help me jump over this moon. "Adrienne Lewis is one of my favorite poets; her work is accessible, yet precise and exacting in its language. Her poems are personal, haunting, and beautiful." -- Daniel Crocker, Editor of Controlled Burn & Author of People Everyday and Do Not Look Directly Into Me. "Adrienne Lewis' "Compared to This" confronts the emotional aftermath of rape with courage and honesty, but these are more than confessional poems, they are truly poems. Craftmanship and a sure sense of narrative arc shape the peoms and the collection as a whole, leaving the reader with both a shared sense of outrage and a complex and subtle understanding of the human dimensions that rise far above the idea of victimhood." -- Judith Kerman, Author of Plane Surfaces and Mothering. "Adrienne Lewis' poetry is gutsy, honest, and smart. It seeks out and successfully finds a balance between academic and underground, using straightforward imagery and clear metaphor without dumbing down the language. "Compared to This" is sometimes sad; sometimes brutal and blunt; sometimes sexy and sassy; but always sure-footed. Adrienne Lewis is a fresh female voice that deserves to be heard." -- Nathan Graziano, Author of Not So Profound and Frostbiite.