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Sophie Furlong Tighe

(Nothing but) Flowers

Once a friend told me that women's self-defense is often
quite ineffective, actually.
He showed me with his own two hands,
how when men defend,
they push heavy and straight between the ribs.
But a woman stabs up, with all the might in her
thin arms
the intruder can push
her weight down and knife out
before she breaks skin.
 
He said,
that if I was ever scared
I am best to swing over stab
find a wrench
or a pickaxe.
 
The morning after he broke his girlfriend's arm I brought him to the park and we set rose petals racing under the bridge.
 
-How do we know who’s is who’s?
-Mine’s redder
-What’s our wager?
-If I win I throw you over the bridge and when you win you don’t have to speak to me for the whole rest of the day.
-What if I want to explain myself?
-Heads I win, tails you lose.
 
We waited for the flowers on the other side
Our silence
making us the same
until,
 
-I am always surprised when they appear again.
-Curious for the life they live under the bridge?
 
 
When I sent him pictures of my own bruises he couldn't understand
How that man could want to hurt me
How could anyone strike to leave a mark--
 --Genuinely, unsettling.
 
It is the ones who think
they never could 
always the soft
who can recall
she’ll stab up
and I’ll push down.

Biography

Picture
Sophie Furlong Tighe is a Dublin based poet.  She has work published or forthcoming in DUST Magazine, Boston Accent Lit, and Vagabond City Lit among others. She tweets @furtiso.
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ISSN 2639-426X
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  • Home
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  • Issues
    • Issue 49
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    • Issue 46
    • Issue 45
    • Issue 44
    • Issue 43
    • Issue 42
    • Issue 41
    • Issue 40
    • Issue 39
    • Issue 38
    • Issue 37
    • Issue 36
    • Issue 35
    • Issue 34
    • Issue 33
    • Issue 32
    • Issue 31
    • Issue 30
    • Issue 29
    • Issue 28
    • Issue 27
    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions