The Maiden without Hands

And the father takes
his daughter's hand
firmly in his own,

reeking as he wields the ax
of cows, sweat,
the knuckles that trap her
cracked and red.

She will not turn her eyes away,

demands that her severed arms
be strapped to her back,
young woman on a country road

who walks towards strangers.

(First published in Marlboro Review; reprinted in The Poets' Grimm, Story Line Press, 2003, and online by The Poets' Grimm.)