Cheryl Moskowitz
Biography
US-born Cheryl Moskowitz studied Psychology at Sussex University, and started out as an actor/playwright, and performance poet with the radical 1980s poetry collective Angels of Fire. She has published in The Poetry Review, The Rialto, Magma, and The Manhattan Review amongst others; won prizes in the National Poetry Competition, Bridport, Troubadour, Kent & Sussex and Hippocrates poetry prize. With her poem ’Shirtless’, she was a 2018 Moth Poetry Prize finalist. She has published two full length poetry collections: The Girl is Smiling (Circle Time Press) and one for children CAN IT BE ABOUT ME? With composer Alastair Gavin she runs the All Saints Sessions, an innovative poetry and electronics performance series in North London.
The Poem
Shirtless
Back then when she believed that being a boy or even a dog
was preferable to being the girl that she was,
she used to go shirtless on the front lawn
perfecting those sad eyes of hers, and imagining that if she stood
still for long enough the day would take her with it into the shadows
or wherever it is that days go at the end of the summer.
She said she didn’t care if people stared–No one knows me anyway
and that everyone is entitled to their own idea of what makes
a good picture or who they will stand next to in a crowd.
And when the evenings got cooler the girl wore her shirt again
and went inside where she practiced standing still in front of
the lengthways mirror next to her bed. Once she spoke quietly
to the glass reflection–You are too easily broken. By this time
the evenings were darker and colder and no one played outside
anymore except for the occasional boy with a ball, or a dog.