after Whisper Country, Little House On The Prairie
by some woman who hasn’t learned to read
just thrash Bibles at the sky. Call forth flames,
lightning nigh on Marian blue eyes with screed
of childhood scriptures memorized. Defame
teen jezebels, demonize soap upon
contaminated skin, false hopes one might
become clean again — whores of Babylon,
pink educated lips, raiments, worm white,
a rotten stench — near children. Unbraid
their hair. Share anecdotes about World Fairs —
the voices heard though miles away. Afraid
she opened up their world today. Prepared
the young to leave a prairie and to spurn
an ignorance where what we fear should burn.
…
Kristin Garth is a Pushcart, Best of the Net & Rhysling nominated sonnet stalker. Her sonnets have stalked journals like Glass, Yes, Five:2:One, Luna Luna and more. She is the author of fourteen books of poetry including Pink Plastic House (Maverick Duck Press), Candy Cigarette Womanchild Noir (The Hedgehog Poetry Press), Flutter: Southern Gothic Fever Dream (TwistiT Press), The Meadow (APEP Publications) and Shut Your Eyes, Succubi (Maverick Duck). Follow her on Twitter: (@lolaandjolie) and her website http://kristingarth.com
Author’s Note: I’m completing a manuscript on fire being used as a tool of misogyny against women historically and in contemporary times. A few nights ago celebrating the holidays, I’d had a little bit to drink and was decompressing from writing heavy poems and editing to watch a little Little House On The Prairie. The subject of the episode, Whisper Country however was as dark as my poems as of late and very relevant. Mary Ingalls, on her first teaching assignment, in a very backward thinking smaller town, is accused of being a jezebel and threatened even with fire by the female spiritual leader of the town — a woman who cannot read and has memorized incorrectly the scriptures she bases her hatred upon. This episode felt so relevant to me about how extremists and abusers twist religious ideas to their evil purposes. It’s sad to say how much I related to this episode of Little House On The Prairie. Sad any woman does.
