Susan Isla Tepper presented her darkly comic play CLANDESTINE in an Equity Premiere Staged-reading, hosted by SHOPTALK, on June 10 at EAG Guild Hall Theatre, NYC. Her latest Novel “Hair of a Fallen Angel” was published by Spuyten Duyvil Books. A twenty-year writer, she’s written 12 published books of fiction and poetry and 7 stage plays. Honors include 21 Pushcart Prize Nominations. Her play ‘The Crooked Heart’ concerning artist Jackson Pollock premiered on October 25, 2022 at the Irish Repertory Theatre in NYC. Adapted from an earlier novel, it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Susan is a Brand Ambassador for The Galway Review. A Youtube music video for her latest novel at: https://youtu.be/W2HVIc4NrqY
SILENCE
By Susan Isla Tepper
I
Once again the child
is told to wait on the front steps,
the weather of no interest
to the mother
It’s raining off and on
but the mother must make
her living and so the line
of men troop in and out
all afternoon.
II
When the little girl cries
no one hears.
The mother has made things
clear—
no sound out of you.
She cries silently and turns
her head to hide the tears
if anyone happens by.
III
The door opens finally,
the mother standing there
telling the child it’s okay now:
The coast is clear.
Making a joke then telling the child
Come in and we’ll have our tea.
IV
From so many hours of sitting
on cold stone
the child has developed a condition.
After the tea of bread and tinned fish
the mother takes the child to the bed
they share in the one room flat.
V
The mother tells the child
to lie on her tummy,
then slides the little knickers off.
More pus says the mother.
The child starts to cry again knowing
this pus will be squeezed out
painfully and the pain will last
even after everything is finished.
Judith A. Lawrence was the editor/publisher of Lilly Press and River Poets Journal for several decades. She is also a prolific painter, and writer of fiction, memoir, and poetry. Originally from Philadelphia, PA, she now resides in Florida. She has published five chapbooks of poems, written a volume of short stories, and a recent memoir titled “Point of Comfort.” She is currently completing a murder/mystery novel and a book of short poems containing her watercolors, under her nom de plume Juniper Rue.
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