You name had
too many consonants
all scrunched up together
robbing each other of space
still trying to figure out where they
belonged after so many years
of fighting each other
your name had to be said
all at once
in a rush
there was no slow
rolling of your sound
through me
instead it was sharp
and razor edged
and every time I said
your name I
bled consonants
and healed the wounds
with vowel stained rage

---

Leslie Dianne is a poet, novelist, screenwriter, playwright and performer whose work has been acclaimed internationally in places such as the Harrogate Fringe Festival in Great Britain, The International Arts Festival in Tuscany, Italy and at La Mama in New York City. Her stage plays have been produced in NYC at The American Theater of Actors, The Raw Space, The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater and The Lamb’s Theater.  She holds a BA in French Literature from CUNY and her poems have appeared in The Lake, Ghost City Review, The Literary Yard, About Place Journal and Kairos andare forthcoming in Hawai’i Review. Her poetry was recently nominated for a Pushcart Prize.