Who was more alone than Medusa? Raped in Athena's temple, transformed into a monster, and banished into a cave, Medusa may be the ultimate example of victim blaming. In The Loneliest Girl, Kate Gale creates a powerful alternative narrative for Medusa and for all women who have carried guilt and shame--for being a woman, for not being enough, for being a victim. She offers a narrative in which women are the makers of the world--in which women find their way out from the cave of the Cisthene and into a world where they determine their own destiny.
The Loneliest Girl is ultimately the story of all the lonely girls determining their own destiny, Kate Gale's defiant middle finger to the patriarchy.'--Charles Remmelkamp, The Lake
Humble, hopeful, and defiantly human.'--San Diego Tribune
'Medusa never took sexy back,' and neither does our poet, Kate Gale, though she grapples with abuse and daily sexist behavior at home. She has survived a cult, and poetry is one of her best weapons against being used again.'--Marilyn Kallet, author of How Our Bodies Learned
When I open a new book by Kate Gale I know right away that there will be bravery. There will be a new take on mythology. There will be beautiful, skillful, memorable language that stands up and speaks up. And the pages fortify, they give strength. The Loneliest Girl is a brave, honest, and endlessly compelling book. Bravo.'--Ilya Kaminsky, author of Dancing in Odessa and Deaf Republic: Poems
In lyrics of searching vulnerability, Kate Gale's poems excavate the unresolved tensions of contemporary womanhood--its dirt and broken sticks, its dark caves and burning lakes of memory. These poems hum with ancient music ('The cherry blossoms sing. Of wounding.') while drawing fresh complexity from the guiding constellation of classic myths and folklore. The Loneliest Girl is a rich, luminous offering from a keen lyric intelligence.'--Kiki Petrosino, author of White Blood: A Lyric of Virginia
Kate Gale is the managing editor and a member of the board of directors for Red Hen Press. She is the author and editor of several books, including The Goldilocks Zone (UNM Press).
Part One. Before
There are ten things you need to know to be a woman:
Aristotle's Catfish
Shame
Aidos
Medusa's Mother
The Other
Darkness Thrown Down Like a Blanket
Medusa Never Took Sexy Back
A Wounded World
Medusa in Love
Under the Goblin Moon
How Is It That the Rain?
The New Ninth
In All the Movies
Speak up, Honey
Hanging
Tall Poppy
Part Two. During
Golden Lion Has a Ball
Hear/Say
You Won't Amount to Much
Golden Lion Ball
Sit On My Lap; I'll Show You Happily Ever After
Medusa's Cookbook
Golden Lion Gets a Job
Wound Care
She Said, Leave Me Alone
Golden Lion Makes a Mistake
I'm Worried about Who Hates Me
Golden Lion Is Written Out of This Book
Terrible Stories
Blue Stockings
Consider the Lilies
Part Three. Ever After
Aren't We All the Moon?
Revelations
Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory
The Loneliest Girl
The Problem with Women Is Desire
The Spanish Call Us Medusas
Colossal
He Was the Only Man in the Room
Snakes in My Hair
Delayed Choice: Quantum Erasure
Story of Light
Becoming Sky
The Giant's Causeway
Those Who Loved Medusa
The Stoning Circle
Stumbling toward Grace
Acknowledgments
