I Wonder What the NSA Thinks of my Search History
by Deborah Bacharach
Today, I looked up the National Conference of Women (1977) but got bruised by the headline Feminists Crack the Culture, like really, our fault?; found the capacity of pepper grinders—what do I need? what do I want? what beauty can I bring into my life?; flipped over to the dissident poet Irina Ratushinskaya, listened for the poems she tapped into prison pipes; escaped into Me and Bobby McGee, no video, just the sound of Janis flaming that night around the campfire when I yearned so hard I thought the stars might drop down just as a kindness and how I am now twice the age of the woman who threw her hair back victorious; wondered what her mother said to her about men and menstruation; wondered if I have said what is necessary.
Deborah Bacharach is the author of two full length poetry collections Shake & Tremor (Grayson Books, 2021) and After I Stop Lying (Cherry Grove Collections, 2015). Her poems, book reviews and essays have been published in Poetry Ireland Review, New Letters and The Writer’s Chronicle among many others. Find out more about her at DeborahBacharach.com.