being the murdered stranger by Cathy Ulrich

being the murdered stranger

by Cathy Ulrich

hush · issue 2

A visual poem titled Being the Murdered Stranger by Cathy Ulrich, composed of twelve puzzle pieces arranged across four rows on a white background, each piece containing a stanza of text. Row 1, left to right: a piece reading The thing about being the murdered stranger is you set the plot in motion; a piece reading You will be days-dead found, crow-dead found, dog bark, startle into air, bare twist of ankle on the beach; a piece reading You will be toppled heels in the sand, wind-blown footprints, missing hands. Row 2, left to right: a piece reading You will be a name unspoken, forgotten, lost and gone; a piece reading You the will be theories, you will be Mafia slaying, spy, serial killer victim, good-time girl, revenge killing, you will be the girl nobody knows; a piece reading You will be dark nights and full-moon tides, you will be the story that mothers tell their daughters, you will be the warning in their voice. Row 3, left to right: a large piece reading You sound will be the the local girls hear at night outside their bedroom doors, footsteps in empty halls, creaks and owl calls, she's coming for her missing hands, she's coming for you; three small pieces each reading You will be exhumed; a piece reading You will be the mask they make of your face, you will be the lifeless face in the newspaper for days, for weeks. Row 4, left to right: a piece reading You will be sketches in police artist notepads, you will be compared to the faces of extras in the background of television scenes. You will have a changing face, you will have no face of your own; a piece reading You will and each time be smaller smaller they pull you out of the ground, you will be the pieces they take for DNA, scraps of clothing lingering on your bare bones; a piece reading You will be found and unfound, known and unknown, and no one will ever call you by your lost name again.

Cathy Ulrich

Cathy Ulrich is too impatient to be good at puzzles. Her work has been published in various journals, including Indigo Literary Journal, Leon Literary Review and Adroit.