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That
Alicia Caldanaro Wildfang

I don’t want to remember that
Or write about that
It doesn’t seem right to give any attention at all to that

I have better things to think about—
Nice things, productive things

Why do I have to remember that?
I shut it out
It was a long time ago
It haunts me sometimes
The media tells me stories that remind me of that—
The battered women who were victims
I got out a long time ago and I told the social worker that I was a victim
The social worker corrected me and told me that I was a survivor

So, my mind and heart and experience about that
Forces my reluctant hand to write what needs to be known
Because maybe others are experiencing that—
Right now

I pick up my pen
And finally,
After many years,
I start to write about that

—
Alicia Caldanaro Whitefang is a retired librarian who writes poetry in between the demands of being a homemaker, flower gardener, and a person who sews. In 1990, she received her Bachelor of Science in Radio and Television at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana, and worked part-time as an on-air announcer at various radio stations. In 1999, she received her Master of Library Science degree from Indian University and a “Specialization in Special Collections” certificate that included working on the manuscripts of Athol Fugard. Her work has appeared in Indiana Libraries: Journal of the Indiana Library Federation, The Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship, and Plath Profiles. One of her poems will be published in a future issue of North Dakota Quarterly.

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