ADVENT DAY 18, JANEEN PERGRIN RASTALL!

Ordeal by Water

All the quiet Jackies don

shaggy sweaters and gather

stones, press their palms

in their pockets, roll the rocks around.

The weight feels right, pulls

their shoulders down. They speak in

undertones long after the taste

of trashcan punch and cum

dissipates. Thigh welts start  

to yellow still murky memories

of blows rise. All the muffled

Jackies climb

into the dunking chair.

They do not fight

or float. Their bodies seek

bottom currents. All the secret

Jackies know fault lines lie

in the sea bed. They give

themselves to the undertow.

Ordeal by Water was associated with the witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries: an accused who sank was considered innocent, while floating indicated witchcraft. From Wikipedia,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunking

JANEEN PERGRIN RASTALL lives in Gordon, MI, population 2. She is the author of the chapbook, In The Yellowed House (dancing girl press, 2014). Her poetry has appeared in several publications including: Border Crossing, Dunes Review, Atticus Review, Midwestern Gothic and Heron Tree.

Curatorial note: The following poems are a response to a call for poetry about rape culture for the annual Delirious Advent Feature; the call is in turn an immediate response to the Rolling Stone story “A Rape on Campus” about rape culture at the University of Virginia. However, they are also part of a larger conversation about rape in poetry communities. Curated by Jessica Smith and Susana Gardner.