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Hannah Rousselot ’14

Alumnae Poet

Hannah Rousselot Class of 2014

Hannah Rousselot (she/her) is a queer French-American poet, writer, and educator. Her poetry has appeared in many publications, including Parentheses Magazine, The McNeese Review, The Blue Nib and The Broadkill Review. She has published two long works, Fragments of You (Kelsay Press) and Ocean Currents (Finishing Line Press). She also reviews other poets’ works on hannahrousselot.com and is the host of Poetry Aloud (@poetryaloudpod). You can follow her work on facebook.com/hmrpoetry or hannahrousselot.com

Select Poems

The water flow brings not

    salvation but jagged seaglass

that burrows within the callused skin

    of my big toe and stubbornly refuses

to break out until I get out my cheap knife

    and cut around the skin but by then

my fingers are too bloody to get a good grip.

    Still, the waves crash in the cavity

of my swollen head and at least my viscous fingers

    feel so good sliding on cheeks. 

I am pushed and pulled relentlessly by the moon

    up and down, a dead body floating and sinking.

I want pity from the sand beneath me

    but it burns my back and provides no solidity.

I yell— I am trying to become one of you

    yet the words are cement and I choke

on the salty spray and besides no one is here but

    my want and my want and 

no ocean is big enough for that.