The Knife, The Throat by Dawn Manning
I’ve had a knife at my throat and didn’t die,
though when I swallow it tastes like pennies.
This scar’s my pearl choker—chic as a fly.
My head’s bound on tight—just give it a pry;
and put down the green ribbon, dear Jenny.
I’ve had a knife at my throat and didn’t die.
Nick in the neck, demure as a silk tie—
dress it up with heels, and down with tennies.
This scar’s my pearl choker—chic as a fly.
I know it’s no Insta-worthy third eye—
no inspo-tale will make this scar trendy;
though, I’ve had a knife at my throat and didn’t die.
Sure, on sleepless nights I may wonder why
life’s handed me a lemon or twenty,
but this scar’s my pearl choker—chic as a fly.
Will it be awkward for you if I cry?
Curse pantheons of gods, great and demi?
I’ve had a knife at my throat and didn’t die.
This scar’s my pearl choker—chic as a fly.
Dawn Manning (she/they) conjures art with words, metal, and other media in the former tollhouse of a covered bridge. She is the author of Postcards from the Dead Letter Office (Burlesque Press). Her poems have appeared through 32 Poems, Pleiades, Prairie Schooner, Verse Daily, and other publications. Awards for her work include the Hugh J. Luke Award, Beullah Rose Poetry Prize, and the San Miguel Writers’ Poetry Prize, among others. Visit her at dawnmanning.com
Praise for the winning villanelle, “The Knife, The Throat”:
The stakes in this villanelle are extremely high. Initially I thought the first line set up a thriller—or perhaps a traumatic personal memory? It wasn’t until I got to the specificity of Jenny, the name, that I realized this might be something else entirely, something I had no idea about. A quick Google search led me to a horrifying story entitled “The Green Ribbon” from An I Can Read book series for kids! The villanelle became that much more exciting to me. How many children were freaked out by this tale? I am assuming the writer of this poem is one of them. The villanelle provides the perfect repetitive form for wondering and pondering this very unusual event through the eyes of an adult who now is aware of “real” violence against women and how it is so often used as a plot point an adult literature too.
~Denise Duhamel, judge, author of Pink Lady (Pitt Poetry Series, 2025)
