Switch Hitter
By Kallie Blakelock
The first time
it was pink, like
bottle caps
from a night
stand, pink how O’Keeffe would have wanted it.
It was like getting
drunk, I almost told her, how I liked it so pink.
I kissed a girl,
fuchsia, flowery
or maybe just petals —
Miss Georgia,
It was so pink in my brain
I liked it.
And I drank and sunk.
Erin Taylor Kennedy, My Mother’s Pink Dress, 2023, digital photograph, 12" x 8".
Kallie Blakelock is a former high school teacher who recently relocated from Charm City to Tampa. She is a poet who explores things like sorrow, bodies of water, and her own mind. Though she’s far from the salty Eastern Shore of Maryland where she was raised, Kallie loves the sunshine and community she has encountered during her time as an MFA student in poetry at the University of South Florida. She has published or has pending publications with Ok Donkey literary magazine as well as Action, Spectacle. She lives with her obese cats, Mowgli and Mona.
Erin Taylor Kennedy received an MA in Documentary Film from University of London, Goldsmiths College. After graduating, she worked as a documentary producer, cameraperson and editor. Over the past decade, she has worked almost exclusively as a commercial and documentary editor. In addition to her professional work, she has produced various personal projects using photography, video, and archival material. Her photographic work draws on her experience in video editing and visual storytelling, exploring how meaning emerges through the sequencing and juxtaposition of images. Through independent publishers Rayon Vert Editions and Basic Battle Books, she has released four photography books in the past decade. She cherishes the moments away from a screen, whether it's in a garden, a cinema, a dream, or a remote part of the world.