Not Anne but Gabrielle

Not Anne, But Gabrielle by Gabrielle Munslow If you want me to take you to another time, take my hand. Don’t furrow your brow. Slick with storylines, my tongue twists like an adder. Poetry spills— some good, some bad, but always real. I write of suffering. I write of death. I write of want. No pretty, prophetic prose. But I can still slip a ditty off my toes. I am Anne with an E. No bird. No net ensnares me. Still, I rest, and language thrills my bones. Time stills— or quickens. Language isn’t luxury; it’s necessity. Down rabbit holes I go, deep and twisted. I braid my breath into roots. I speak to the dirt, and it answers. Once a girl. Now a woman, retelling her youth. I am not Anne with an E. I am Gabrielle— with poems for sale. ? © 2025 Gabrielle Munslow. All rights reserved. This poem may not be reproduced, distributed, or performed without the author’s permission.