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.
Louise Hay, the late metaphysical teacher, described eczema as breath- taking antagonism, mental eruptions.
The only other part of my body that used to bleed with regularity is my hands. Every February, the skin around my knuckles would crisp and I would line up my tonics. The Houston humidity and my mother watched in disbelief.
Thirty years later, estranged from both, I rubbed a new solution into my palms as my husband cleared his throat in the other room, turned off the light, then asked me to come find his wallet. I squinted, strained, spun—until
I fell. My hands buckled against the hardwoods, then flattened, steadying my torso. I pushed my feet and palms into the roots of my house until I was bent in two, then I rolled through my spine so slowly I was barely moving. Once vertical, I walked toward
the front door, turned on the porch light, and left— my fingers leaving a trail of aloe on the steps.
Stefanie Leigh is a poet and ballet dancer based in Toronto. She holds a BA from Columbia University and was a dancer with American Ballet Theatre. Her work has been published in Rust & Moth, Syncopation Literary Journal, and elsewhere. She is working on her first poetry collection, Swan Arms.
