Quail Bell Magazine, The Real and The Unreal

Quail Bell Magazine just published two of my poems. They took a chance on one, "Alabama Girl," which contains a trigger warning because it deals with the rape of a young girl and the aftermath. Not something you want to read about or hear about or know about in real life or in poetry. But maybe it's something we need to hear about, talk about, and face with courage and action, both the human damage and the legal/political aspects that in some US states are barbaric. It may be a topic that seems strange for a poem by a man, but men should be hurt and angry too. It's a male problem. We need to solve it. The laws must change. Rape-culture must change. Silence is complicity.

My thanks go to the Quail Bell staff and especially editor, Amy Lee, who helped me improve the poem. Thanks Amy for your advocacy. I'm honored to have work included in a publication that describes itself as intersectional feminist and womanist. Read it.

http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/the-unreal-20/poetry-alabama-girl-by-e-martin-pedersen

http://www.quailbellmagazine.com/the-unreal-20/poetry-blue-holes-in-rows-by-e-martin-pedersen