Poetry Friday: Underlife by January O'Neil

January Gill O'Neil
CavanKerry Publishing
2009








Underlife represents that gnawing wilderness of thought and emotion hidden away from the external world. The dynamics of race, family, motherhood, career, sex, and, ultimately, transformation are explored in this debut collection. Vivid and unflinchingly honest, O’Neil’s narratives are portals through which we see our lives as if for the first time. These poems make the ordinary extraordinary.

"The Ripe Time"

Each month she thinks her nipples
are becoming more tender,
areolas blooming into wild ginger.
Before her is a bed filled with ardor.

Pregnant, not pregnant,
she is the princess without the pea—
a ball stuck in the pinball machine
that tilts like clockwork.

After making love
they lie on their sides silvered with sweat.
She listens for the soft chirp of her own breathing:
it does not reveal why her body operates
like a failed business.

On this night
where marriage is the only safe place
she can go, her husband holds her,
tells her it’s just a matter of time.

But all she can think about
is this empty house they can’t afford
and the ripe tomatoes growing in backyard containers,
smooth-fleshed and heavy,
falling from their stems.

Originally appeared at Literary Mama.

January's debut poetry collection scheduled release is September 2009. Her work has appeared in numerous publications. A Cave Canem Fellow, January regularly participates in writers' groups, poetry festivals and readings. She blogs at Poet Mom and is a columnist for readwritepoem.

January is my peer, my friend, my confidant for our weekly Confession Tuesday. I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do. Support poetry. Buy her collection. Poetry Friday is hosted this week by Tricia at Miss Rumphius Effect.