"The Origin of Lust" by Becky Gould Gibson
– Having breasts woke me up to my body.
Most of what I’d gleaned so far about sex came from Ovid.
Becky Gibson has published three chapbooks and five full-length books of poetry: notably, Aphrodite’s Daughter (Texas Review Press, 2007); Need-Fire (Bright Hill Press, 2007); Heading Home (Main Street Rag, 2014); and Indelible (The Broadkill River Press, 2018). Her current focus is creative nonfiction. Three pieces appear in print, in Snowy Egret, Canary, and Twists and Turns (PSPP, Fall, 2022). A fourth comes out soon in Cold Mountain Review.
Becky taught English at Guilford College until 2008, when she retired to write full-time. She lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Author’s Talk
Becky Gibson
I’ve never thought of myself as a storyteller. Oh, I made up stories for my children when they were small to coax them to sleep. But I never wrote any of them down. No story of mine could be worth keeping. I thought of myself as a poet and wrote lots of poems. Only recently have I begun to try my hand at personal essays, which for me are merely stories with a point. “The Origin of Lust” is one of those. I wrote it as my present self, with the adult’s history and knowledge, but also as the child I was, with words and expressions she would have used. My essays are triggered by a question, something I’m trying to figure out. Just when did I sense the first stirrings of lust, and what did that feel like? I’ve always loved origin stories. How did the world begin? Who started it and why? Now, I’m working on another story of origin, this one almost mythical, with lush landscapes and repeated phrases, exaggerated action and talking animals. The story is meant for my grandchildren and for anyone else who would like to read it.—Becky Gould Gibson
Read by Mary Jones
- friend of the author
