Hannah Stephenson 

My Mother's Mother's Wrench

​I’m 13 and I only listen to bands
whose lead singers are women
 
And at dances the song we’re all waiting for is sung by a woman
 
And when it pours out of the speakers every body in that room
plunges into its rage
 
And we all look at each other like yes
this is what we’ve been waiting for
 
And when I walk the boy home in the
mosquitos and fireflies
and first stars freckling this night
 
And I take off my scarf and wrap his slim neck in it
 
And he looks scared of being kissed
so I just grab his hands
 
And he looks at me like I’m keeping him
from flying off the planet
 
that
is exactly what she’s singing about
in that song
where she’s screaming her lungs out

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Hannah Stephenson is the author of Cadence and In the Kettle, the Shriek. Her writing has appeared in publications that include The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, 32 Poems, Vela, The Journal, and Poetry Daily. You can visit her online at www.thestorialist.com.