
This selection, chosen by Guest Curator Stephanie Erdman, is from Drop Jaw by Rikki Santer, released by NightBallet Press in 2020.
Born Ventriloquist
Caesarean section, like red
velvet curtains, pulled open
for applause. Your wet lungs
drawn off like determined
marionettes & nurses swathed
you in tuxedo cummerbund.
They told your parents you had
to crawl before you could tap dance;
coo & gurgle before consonants
emerged, yet you announced your entry
with your egg tooth tossing punchlines
across a gleaming labor room.
That garden smile of yours
& its ghost of mustache
got the doctors yukking
it up as your vocal chords
pranced, spinning setups
from ceiling to floor.
Your new breath was cheese corn,
your hands, fledgling beaks.
They say you were taught in utero
by vaudeville angels, so your
bassinet stayed miked, milked
for a marveling proscenium.


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Thank you, Stephanie, for featuring my poetry collection inspired by the art of ventriloquism. I feel honored. I hope to learn more about your “persistent imposter syndrome”! Let me know how I can contact you.