Imagine a Woman

Stories have the power to free us, or to hold us captive. Imagine a Woman is a book about both, and how the retelling of stories we inherit can open a pathway between fear and survival.

'make from the signature of / your mouth sewed shut / some threads to pull your throat / onto the page.'

Organized around four feminine archetypes-the Virgin, the Mother, the Prophet, and the Whore-these poems offer a multi-storied perspective on the many ways a woman is defined, and how femininity is shaped by histories ancient and new. Through 'botanical fragments of memory: / broken strands of frogs' eggs and frayed sleeves of / pond reeds, skipping / stones spidered with oxygenated holes, eroded / arrowheads of mussel / shells, and swollen bags of concrete, ' Neagle carries us from girlhood to motherhood, through the death of her own mother, and back to a life beyond the destructive stories of what a woman is and isn't.

'I wear something under my skin / that doesn't sleep, when I go out / at night it comes with me.'

This collection offers new ways to devote ourselves to the myths, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and playground songs that captivate our memories and inspire our futures, igniting a sharp and stirring transformation from being silenced to learning how to speak.

Author: Dorothy Neagle
Publisher: Gnashing Teeth Publishing
Published: 06/09/2026
Pages: 84
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.25lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.22d
ISBN: 9781966075165

About the Author
Neagle, Dorothy: - Dorothy Neagle was born and raised in South Central Kentucky, in the westernmost county in Appalachia. A Yaddow fellow and Pushcart Prize nominee, her poetry and essays have appeared in many journals and anthologies. She lives with her family in New York.www.dorothyneagle.com@sentencesaremyfave