bracing against her struggle,
stepping toward her provocative attempt
to flee. For his grip hollows
marbled skin and she is soft
but not weak. No, she taunts
tearfully raising her limbs in ecstasy
or anguish, bare-chested and hooked
wildly in his grip. She pushes,
palm shoved against stone.
Skin thrust to skin, he understands
horribly that even the flesh
of Hades folds under
the delicate force of a woman.
Author Bio:
Valerie Westmark finds joy in chai tea lattes, candles, worn book pages, hot baths and relationships. She fell in love with poetry in 7th grade and has been getting to know it better ever since. She graduated from Samford University with a Bachelor's in English and a concentration in creative writing. She has been published in Samford University’s Sojourn and Wide Angle, the Wilderness House Literary Review, The Southern Voice, The Wayfarer and Sleet Magazine. She also was awarded the Top Literary Rating for the Fall 2010 issue of Sojourn. She currently resides in Pensacola, FL, where the beaches are white, the days are long and the people are kind.