Published Works
Wake Up You Sleepyhead
Wake up be with Mommy
put on clothes Mommy
picked out for you let Mommy
lay on your shoulder let Mommy
brush your hair Mommy’s mad
at your dad you know how he is
Mommy’s sad your daddy’s such
an asshole he never listens nobody
pays attention to Mommy
nobody ever does what Mommy
asks so Mommy’s the villain now
Mommy did something wrong
Mommy hates this world
Mommy’s sorry she yelled at you
Mommy loves you, she does
whatever you say.
Parting by Comb
Head back for Mommy
let Mommy check for lice
your friend Kathy stole some money
off the dresser you’d tell me
if you knew she did it Mommy
doesn’t want you to lie please don’t
lie to Mommy you’ll hate
Mommy when you’re older
you’ll turn on Mommy
though Mommy loves you
knows you are good
knows you wouldn’t lie
knows you would never use
another girl’s hairbrush.
After Hours
Mommy fed you with the breast
don’t I deserve your love for that
tell me what you know why don’t
you talk more it’s good to hear
your voice Mommy always wants
to help show Mommy what you’ve learned
on piano tell Mommy how many
lines there are on the staff let’s call
your grandmother tell her
how many lines tell her
you love her tell her
what you are learning
in school you never
tell Mommy anything.
*Published in So To Speak 2012 Summer Online Issue
sotospeakjournal.org/medeia-starfire/
"In her shining evocation of paranoia, obsession, and oppression in relationships (in this case, a mother-child dynamic) she controls voice through writing short bursts of poems as a mother who has little control of her own. Through the mother’s conversation, it is easy, and rather uncomfortable, to feel the conflicting tensions of her anxiety and ideas about herself and world transferred onto the child. Through witnessing these uncomfortable moments, we are asked to be aware of our own treatment of people. Why do we get upset and when do we blame others for our anger? Here’s an excerpt from “Wake Up You Sleepyhead”
Mommy did something wrong
Mommy hates this world
Mommy’s sorry she yelled at you
Mommy loves you, she does
whatever you say
Starfire writes:
“I am interested in the complicated nature of female connection. How women feel about themselves and why they feel that way often translates into how they cultivate their relationships. I am concerned with where dysfunction begins, how it grows, and the strength it takes to accept and change.”"
-So To Speak 2012 Summer Online Issue