loose strife (Afterward one woman says the killing fields)

Afterward one woman says the killing fields

are only three kilometers away

and that you can walk there.

The other woman says it’s more than fifty

and simply points to the darkening sky.

Credit

“loose strife” (Afterward one woman says the killing fields) from Loose Strife by Amy Quan Barry, © 2015. All rights are controlled by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Used by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press.

Author

Quan Barry

Amy Quan Barry was born in Saigon and grew up in Boston. A poet and novelist, she holds an MFA from the University of Michigan.

Barry is the author of four books of poetry, including Loose Strife (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2015); Water Puppets (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), winner of the AWP Donald Hall Prize for Poetry and a PEN/Open Book Award Finalist; and Asylum (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001), winner of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize.

Date Published

01/01/2015