golden marvel slow still out of reach
bloodpup face in the marriage bed
this is the hand, the hand that takes
a husband’s back to face the night away
a hunger sack that never fills
this is the hand, the hand that takes
long life spent slung with men
while stolen child named golden marvel
this is the hand, the hand that takes
slow, still, out of reach
*the repeated line is from Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman”

Isobel O’Hare is a poet and essayist based in Taos, New Mexico. She is the author of the chapbooks Wild Materials (Zoo Cake Press, 2015) and The Garden Inside Her (Ladybox Books, 2016). Poems of hers have appeared and/or are forthcoming in anthologies from Civil Coping Mechanisms Press and Black Lawrence Press. O’Hare received her MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts, and she has received awards from Split This Rock and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico. Find her @isobelohare and isobelohare.com