Amy Riddell

Cycles of Tyranny

With the bare knuckles of his right hand,
my father pummeled the shadow

my mother wore like a face.
These were the Reagan years, when might

made right, and lies gloved as truth
slapped us all so silly we collapsed,

like now, concussed by the hammer
of daily headlines, the rule of law

submissive to the rule of thumb.
What made America great again

was a hand up my skirt
or a man like my father pounding a bible

into my lap. In those days,
when a boyfriend punched a hole

in my wall, I called no one, said nothing
about the silence he’d cracked open

to help me better grasp the lessons stashed
all those aftermaths ago—

the final blow after a snarling night:
a blue-uniformed voice on the phone

admonishing my mother, Don’t call again.
Because, after all, a man’s rage is no crime.

Amy Riddell has three poetry collections, Prayer of Scalpel & Ash, a chapbook (Rockwood Press), Bullets in the Jewelry Box, a full-length collection (FutureCycle), and Narcissistic Injury, a chapbook (Pudding House). A Pushcart nominee, Amy’s poems have appeared in various journals, including The Philly Poetry Chapbook Review, The Inflectionist Review, Rust & Moth, SoFloPoJo, Rat’s Ass Review, Misfit Magazine, Prairie Schooner, Black Warrior Review, and Birmingham Poetry Review.