What Came First | Jennifer Campbell

Jennifer Campbell is an English professor at SUNY Erie and a co-editor of Earths Daughters. She has two full-length poetry collections, Supposed to Love (Saddle Road Press) and Driving Straight Through (FootHills). Her poetry has recently appeared in Paterson Literary Review, Comstock, Little Patuxent Review, The Healing Muse, and The Sixty-four Best Poets of 2019. She lives with her husband and son in Buffalo, NY. See more at www.jennifer-campbell.com .     ______________________________ GRETEL WITH HIGH HONORSIn time, the flashbacks faded.Her own private Guernicadevolved into a crowd of ash,a history lesson.Having well-earned the benefitsof a liberal arts education,she can add perspectivewhere it may seem lacking,knows how time will wear awaylayers of rock until it becomes soft gypsum,understands the topographyof the hacky sack,can apply the Butterfly Effectto certain elections and social media posts,even the glamorously tragicdeath of Isadora Duncan.Ultimately, an oven-witch is just