It’s me. Your newest author. 

I’m here to tell you it’s time. To come out. 
Of the closet you’ve spent decades in. 
It must be getting old. 

How long is Girl George willing to wait? 
Or is Bess the one? 
Whatever. Anything is possible. 
That’s why they call it fiction. 

I’ve known for ages Ned Nickerson is window dressing. 
Clever of my predecessors to use code. 
Ned keeps his knickers on. Get it? 

Hannah the housekeeper can’t be trusted. 
She’ll sell your sorry ass to the tabloids soon. 
Anything can happen. It’s called fiction. 

Don’t go running to Daddy. 
Carson Drew, famous lawyer, no can do. Not in my book. 
I can write anything I want about you. Even haiku: 

mirror moon— 
her lover’s face shifts 
in its frame 

I hope I’ve impressed you with my writing chops. 

Back to you. I have it on good authority. You were born this way. 
A Carolyn Keene pseudonym tried to out you. 
She got canned. 

They can’t get rid of me that fast. I’ve already got the title:
Nancy Drew, Lipstick Lesbian. 

It only takes one author. One e-book. One voice. 

Sincerely yours, 
Carolyn Keene 

—Third Honorable Mention, KYSO Flash HTP Writing Challenge

Roberta Beary

is the haibun editor for Modern Haiku. She identifies as gender-expansive, and writes to connect with the disenfranchised, to let them know they are not alone. Her book The Unworn Necklace, named a William Carlos Williams finalist by the Poetry Society of America, is in its fourth printing. Her work is featured in A Companion to Poetic Genre (John Wiley & Sons, 2011) and Haiku In English: The First Hundred Years (W.W. Norton, 2013). Her book Deflection (Accents Publishing, 2015), a collection of prose poems on loss and grief, was named an Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist and received a Touchstone Award Honorable Mention. Poet and playwright Grace Cavalieri says, “In Deflection she extends her reach with some of the most searingly truthful work I’ve seen this year.”

Beary tweets her photoku on Twitter @shortpoemz.

Author’s website: www.robertabeary.com

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ “They Are Not Alone”: An Interview with Roberta Beary by Christopher McCurry in Accents Publishing Blog (12 May 2015)