SWWIM sustains and celebrates women poets by connecting creatives across generations and by curating a living archive of contemporary poetry, while solidifying Miami as a nexus for the literary arts.

Etta Place

Once you said I was cold 
enough to freeze the cock 

off of Satan. I’ve imagined 
my body the way you saw it 

in that moment— marble 
tough. Exhaling a mean 

winter wind. The devil 
is a man broken

down to a hunk of ice. Thick 
and dead in my hand. I like 

to think I was happiest 
in a real house. Argentina 

lasted long enough for chickens 
eggs milk the goat—a little stove. 

Here you’ll call me 
liar. I did like 

the running when we were 
running. My small heart 

a pot crying to boil over. 
And for a while I liked what came 

after the running. That wet 
loosening of bodies. But 

didn’t I love Cholila? 
Wasn’t I happy that time? 

You were the one who wanted 
surprise. The surprise of your skin 

in my sleep. I woke my dress yanked 
to my belly. You already 

half inside wanting 
the breath half out of me

and still the shock of your weight 
in my dreams. Do you remember 

winning the puppy at 
the St. Louis World’s Fair? 

Of course we couldn’t 
take him on the boat 

—the thing started to shit 
and cry on day two— 

but I remember your face 
moving towards me. Darling

half throttled quiet 
behind your back. Your 

massive hands 
like red dirt. 

Something about 
the way you loved 

me. My pretty talent 
for silently taking 

in your 
gifts. 


*This poem was a semi-finalist in the SWWIM For-the-Fun-of-It Contest.


Millie Tullis is an MFA poetry candidate at George Mason University. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Sugar House Review, Rock & Sling, Cimarron Review, Ninth Letter, Juked, and elsewhere. She serves as the Assistant Editor for Best of the Net and Poetry Editor and Social Media Manager for Phoebe. She also reads for Poetry Daily. You can find her on twitter @millie_tullis.



Cross Body

It's Winter Break!

It's Winter Break!