Jessica Purdy

In Power

Collage of blacked out text accompanied by children's book illustrations of a rocket and a bald eagle. Text that can be seen reads: "In Power. A woman fears Russian invasion evacuated Kyiv-controlled territory; territory. The birds of the air interrupted. 'Help, help this wicked dragon. In power. Triumph! Rocket at last sparks wild acclaim, a blaze of flames. Hurryings, scurryings, and boilings never seen before. Indeed the Russias lived happily ever after, with fires burning.'" Not included in the reading of the poem is a photo of a girl's sweatshirt with the words "GIRL POWER" surrounded by a woman's hands.
Close up of section with In Power title and gold rocket.
Close up of section with eagle cut out and birds of the air text.
Close up of blackout poetry section that starts "At last sparks".

Source Notes

 Yaffa, Joshua. New Yorker, 3/7/2022, Vol. 98 Issue 3, p30-43. 14p. 8 Color Photographs.

 McNaught, Harry. 500 Words To Grow On. Illustrated by Harry McNaught, Random House New York, 1973.

Masey, Mary Lou. Branislav the Dragon: A New Tale of Old Russia. Illustrated by Helen Basilevsky, David McKay Company, Inc., 1967.

Jessica Purdy's poems and microfiction have appeared in About Place, Litro, Gargoyle, Gone Lawn, Radar, and MacQueen’s Quinterly. Her two recent chapbooks are The Adorable Knife: Poems after the "Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death" (Grey Book Press), and You’re Never the Same: Ekphrastic Poems (Seven Kitchens Press).

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