Dr. Marian Eikelhof, NETHERLANDS

Exclusive: Best of Women Poetry: Edited by Padmaja Iyengar-Paddy

ME 2

Had to rub my flesh until it bled

remove his fingerprints

disinfect

the stains on my soul

and in my head

trying to deal with his irony,

his bacteria, his wickedness

all over my body and

deep inside of me

my universe vomits, hates my feminity,

feel like stoned with prejudice, disbelief;

“tell me, honey,

just a tiny dress, late at night,

sharing your personality, id, privacy…

when you are supposed to be

pure and innocent

why even look at him?”

had to clean myself

from this memory

how he just laughed

then

choked me.

.

Dr. Marian Eikelhof is a poet who works in her daily life as a psychologist. Her work inspires her to write about the emotional aspects of life. Not only does she describe feelings of love, intimacy and desire, but also reflects on the states of profound sadness and feelings of emptiness. On the whole, she criticizes dehumanisation and an ongoing process of alienation in human relationships. Marian’s poetry book “a zero hour contract with life” has been translated from Dutch into English and Turkish. Currently, she is working on her second poetry collection. Marian is also an activist for peace and committed to make the world a better place for children.

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Best of Women Poetry -2020 :: Setu, March 2020