“She Shall Soon Find a Way” by Julie Babcock
Gingerbread after an exile. After the funeral pyre has smoked down and the last bread crumbs
stolen. How sweet now to have found this forest
house, ground cinnamon and ginger, spiced bark and root, a revival. Of course she eats it.
Life belongs to whoever can find it, to whoever
keeps walking and trying. Children know this. That eating one door leads to another. That
when captured. . .
She grabs a handful of gingerbread cake, lines her pockets with crispy cookies, licks icing
along a window. She is what she does. She is
a molasses-dark shape in the trees.
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Julie Babcock Artist Statement:
Julie Babcock is an only parent who was born and raised in the Midwest. She is the author of the poetry
collection Autoplay (MG Press, 2014). Her poetry and fiction appear in various journals and anthologies
including Western Humanities Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Weave, and Feast: Poetry and Recipes for
a Full Seating at Dinner (Black Lawrence, 2015). She has received fellowships and grants from the
Vermont Studio Center and the Indiana Arts Commission, and currently teaches as a lecturer at
University of Michigan.
