Second Person

Erin Murphy

I once read a poem about desire
to a man who desired me.

Who can blame him for assuming
he was you? Instead of speaking,

he walked across the room,
lifted my hair, and kissed the back

of my neck—which was enough
to make me almost desire him, too.

Erin Murphy’s latest work has appeared in Ecotone, Rattle, Anti-Heroin Chic, The Best of Brevity, Best Microfiction 2024, and anthologies from Random House, Bloomsbury, and Bedford/St. Martin’s. She is author or editor of more than a dozen books, most recently Human Resources (2005). She is professor of English at Penn State Altoona and poetry editor of The Summerset Review. Website: http://www.erin-murphy.comhttp://www.erin-murphy.com/ 

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