Three Women
by Angela E. J. Koh
—Popular myth has it that every time a woman sins by pleasuring herself,
God in retribution kills a kitten.
the young woman
bared under an umbrella
off the pier on Balboa
eats her wild strawberry tart
and pastrami on rye
a siamese
vomits its mother’s
breast milk again
the young woman
in a Sunday paradise
skirts the fragrance aisle
living in rose mandarin
white madonna lily
a siamese
vomits its mother’s
breast milk again
the young woman
who cannot forget her brilliance
festers below the water
her torso a wooden beam
in loosened soil
a siamese
vomits its mother’s
breast milk again
About the Author:
EJ KOH is a poet and translator. Her work has appeared in TriQuarterly, The Journal, La Petite Zine, Susquehanna Review, The Journal, Gulf Stream, Southeast Review, and elsewhere. A finalist of the Bret Baldwin Award and the Ina Coolbrith Memorial Prize in Poetry, she is completing her MFA at Columbia University. Her first novel Red is due later this year.
