Molly Bess Rector
god don't like
my mother says god / don’t like ugly / she says it like a joke / the way a joke /
can admonish / the cut it makes /
the cut I am always / making / at my sister’s / solitary heart / I cut / my sister / with a joke
/ and see every part of me / is ugly / all the way / to the bloodied bivalve / the vulgar clam
/ I press / with a knife / to open and open / for anyone who’ll see / I press it open /
my mother says / cherish / your sister / you only have / one sister / my mother is talking /
to herself / she had two / sisters / one sister left / and none of us / want the pressure / of
knowing / a sister can end / snap / like that /
snap / shut up / how ugly / a clam / when it’s closed / ugly / makes a pearl / clasp clam /
bear down / enough compression / would there only be a pearl / a pearl
my mother says god / don’t like ugly / but I saw a clam / I opened / opened it / and I
believe / in an ugliness / god loves / so I will open / every ugly thing
Molly Bess Rector recently earned an MFA in poetry at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She currently co-curates the Open Mouth Reading Series. She has served as poetry editor for The Arkansas International and is the recipient of a residency from the Edward F. Albee Foundation. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming SAND, Hobart, Cobalt, Raleigh Review, FreezeRay, Nimrod, and The New Guard.
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