In The Memoir Class

By Joan Mazza

We’re women long past middle age,
come to reveal our old stories,
deciding how to use the page
as a field to plant with glories
or a place to dig endless rage
for wounds to minds and bodies.
Some students step up to the stage,
to show us they’re badass ladies.
They might say, See me! I’m so sad.
Show sympathy and compassion.
Listen! My tale will make you mad!
One commands we say she’s awesome.
One comes with the urge to punish.
Another learns how to vanish.

Joan Mazza worked as a microbiologist and psychotherapist, and taught workshops on understanding dreams and nightmares. She is the author of six psychology books, including Dreaming Your Real Self (Penguin/Putnam). Her poetry has appeared in Crab Orchard Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, Adanna Literary Journal, Poet Lore, and The Nation. She lives in rural central Virginia. www.JoanMazza.com