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Marsha Rabe, the author of poetry, fiction, and essays, was a finalist in Narrative’s Second and Fifth Annual Poetry Contests. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, she attended Hunter College before graduating from Yale University. She has worked as a university administrator, devoting her time to writing and advocating for animal rights. Rabe lives in Guilford, Connecticut, with her husband, the photographer Thomas Brown.

Photograph by Thomas A. Brown.

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Guests of Gravity

by Marsha Rabe
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I. Dart Man, Summer 1990, New York, New York
Allowing for gravity—how objects,
whether hinged like doors to houses
and breasts and hair to bodies, or free like water, fall,
decline, surrender at a rate you can anticipate—
Dart Man gathers his breath and—puff—blowing kisses to

baby—
launches his moon-landing missile. He’s Cupid. Goose Gossage

in his prime,

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  • I was most struck by the second two poems. I never...
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