Statement of The Alpha’s Attorney

by Jenny Molberg

Statement of The Alpha’s Attorney

I say unto thee, these women belong to a cult against men. For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.^[1] My client dreams of the respondents. They spew the blood spatter of men. They awaken my client. They unsettle my client.

I submit to the evidence, your Honor, a copy of their manifesto which calls for the murder of all men. Despite contradictory evidence, I submit that these women are the manifesto’s authors. Draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.^[2] You shall know about your mothers, who plot your fathers’ death.

Jenny Molberg is the author of three poetry collections: Marvels of the Invisible (Tupelo Press, 2017), Refusal (LSU Press, 2020), and The Court of No Record (forthcoming from LSU Press, 2023). An NEA fellow, her work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in VIDA, Ploughshares, The Missouri Review, The Rumpus, The Adroit Journal, AGNI, Oprah Quarterly, and other publications. She is an Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Central Missouri, where she directs Pleiades Press and edits Pleiades magazine.

Cynthia Yatchman is a Seattle-based artist and art instructor. She shows extensively in the Pacific Northwest. Past shows have included Seattle University, the Tacoma and Seattle Convention Centers, and the Pacific Science Center. Her art is housed in numerous public and private collections.