Privacy by Martha Christina

Out for a walk
with her dog
and her phone,
the woman who
wakes me, telling
intimate details of an
argument with her
partner, doesn’t know
or seem to care that
she’s overheard.

As children, my sisters
and I were schooled in
keeping secrets, careful
not to share with even
our best friends what
went on in our family:
our mother’s daily
violence, spilling out
when least expected.
Even now to speak
of details seems a risk,
so when people ask
where I come from, I
joke about the Midwest.



Martha Christina has published two collections: Staying Found (Fleur-de-lis Press) and Against Detachment (Pecan Grove Press). Her work appears in earlier issues of Red Eft Review, and recently in Star 82 Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Tiny Seed Journal. Born and raised in Indiana, she now lives in Bristol, Rhode Island.