Read the winning piece of our 2025 Nonfiction Contest “Through the Mirror” by Jessie Cato selected by Lucy Ives.

Read

Summer 2004 • Vol. XXVI No. 3 • Poetry |

Scenes from the Battle of Us

You are like a war novel, entirely lacking
female characters, except for an occasional
letter that makes one of the men cry.

            I am like a table
            that eats its own legs off
            because it’s fallen
            in love with the floor.

Already have an account? Log in

Join KR for even more to read.

Sign up for a free account and read any five pieces a month.
Sign Up and Read for Free



Or become a subscriber today and get complete, immediate access to our digital archives at every subscription level.
Photo of Cate Marvin

Cate Marvin has published four books of poems, most recently Event Horizon (Copper Canyon Press, 2022). She teaches at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York, and lives in Southern Maine.

Read More

Introduction

By Cate Marvin

All of the entrants in the Patricia Grodd Poetry Prize for Young Writers contest should know that it was very hard for me to choose these runners-up and a winner. […]

Pleasure

By Cate Marvin

I enjoy not sleeping next to you. I love not lying beside you in bed. Particularly delicious is not waking up beside you. Hours wander by like bears rummaging trash, […]

Subscribe

Your free registration with The Kenyon Review includes access to exclusive content, early access to program registration, and more.

Donate

With your support, we’ll continue 
to cultivate talent and publish extraordinary literature from diverse voices around the world.