March 1, 2026
Lexi Pelle
Lexi Pelle was the winner of the 2022 Jack McCarthy Book Prize. Her work has appeared in Plume, West Branch, Rattle, Ninth Letter, and The Comstock Review. She is the author of the poetry collection Let Go With The Lights On (Write Bloody Publishing, 2023).
I want to collective-noun
my desire, part my life like a labia
and jaywalk across prayer. Instead
of give me roses, spill red wine
across my carpet; instead of
hold the car door open, drive me
off a cliff.
Another tool for writing more shamelessly is figurative language. I think of figurative language like lingerie: it is not covering up or obscuring a poem’s truth but rather doubling down on its nakedness.