OCTOBER 22 POEMS BY WIN HARMS
© Winifred Harms 2013 Cover photo © Amy Richman
BARNCOTT PRESS
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION OCTOBER 22, 1994 SWIMMING 501’S DON’T SLEEP AROUND HEROIN HOTEL AUTUMN OCTOBER AGAIN LOBOTOMY GUILT MOTHER FORBIDDEN INSIDE OUT HOSPITAL RIOTS RELATIVE HAPPINESS REGRET ONE MORE FALL I WISH WRONG JAILHOUSE BLUES I DIED FOR YOU A TAPED BOX About the Author
- OCTOBER 22 -
INTRODUCTION After escaping from a locked psych ward, Win Harms discovered that playing Lolita was not all it was cracked up to be. She found herself on a junkie’s floor with the police trying to get in, guns drawn. Yet Win began writing even before her abrupt emergence from the innocence of childhood. The poems in this collection describe in excruciatingly beautiful detail all the emotions of that life-altering experience. Equally important, they speak directly to the heart and soul of everyman. Which makes them incredibly unique. Since while on the one hand personal and private, they are further saying, 'We're all in this together.' This being life. And yes, virgins too are welcome to take a peek. With any luck, it may help to prepare them for the arduous path to freedom. A path that is never ending. Until death do us all part, or not. Read Win Harms at your peril. Why peril? Because you may never again be the same person you think you are now.
1
- OCTOBER 22 -
OCTOBER 22, 1994 the cries of a fractured woman-child her short skirt crumples as a mystery never unravels he asks, whispering in a cloud of smoke and his passion she succumbs and little girl innocence becomes big girl regret
* The full version of October 22 by Win Harms is now available as an ebook published by Barncott Press. A print version will be available in Autumn 2013.
2
- OCTOBER 22 -
SWIMMING his eyes were the color of the sea my only fear dangerous and tumultuous he swims through my thoughts with a butterfly kick laughing at my insecurities diving into my heart with a scissor kick he breaks down my walls and suffocates not able to save me from drowning
3
- OCTOBER 22 -
501’s my 501’s fit like a glove worn to the shape of my hips sex appeal from their wide pockets inviting every predator my jean shorts memorable times thinking i was a woman turning out to be merely a child they were my first love my near death experience mended by needle frayed by my mother’s washing machine my cut off 501’s were are me
4
- OCTOBER 22 -
DON’T SLEEP AROUND in my tub full of grit i don’t sleep around mommy but i am bound last time i said hello was three weeks ago later a goodbye and and a sideways smile do you realize what i know? i felt like a whore the first time i said more they don’t seem to care i adore him
5
- OCTOBER 22 -
About the Author
Win Harms. Photo: Š Amy Richman
Win Harms lives in Lille, France. Prior to settling there she travelled far and wide. Her work has appeared in several 6
- OCTOBER 22 -
magazines, as well as anthologies. Win began writing poetry at age ten when a nurse in a psych ward suggested it to her. These days she sits on her balcony smoking cigarettes, musing, and playing with words. She comes from the streets, but survived the struggle. At present her only personal problem is an ongoing battle with the postal service. Win Harms is a dedicated poet. Everything she writes is real. October 22 is her second book. More are on the way. ALSO BY WIN HARMS: In Harms Way: Poems about fucking, freedom and psych wards (Barncott Press 2013). New poems are regularly published on her website.
* The full version of October 22 by Win Harms is now available as an ebook published by Barncott Press. A print version will be available in Autumn 2013.
BARNCOTT PRESS
7