A Sentence About a Sentence I Love: From Tishani Doshi’s River of Girls

“This is the sound of ten million girls
singing of a time in the universe
when they were born with tigers
breathing between their thighs;
when they set out for battle
with all three eyes on fire,
their golden breasts held high
like weapons to the sky.”

—from “River of Girls,” by Tishani Doshi

This sentence represents for me what a sentence would be if a sentence were itself a goddess, ancient, powerful, fierce, without pause or self doubt.

Elizabeth Cohen is associate professor of English and Creative Writing at SUNY Plattsburgh. Her 2003 memoir, The Family on Beartown Road, was a New York Times Notable Book of the year and a Barnes and Nobles Discover Great New Writers pick. She's also the author of Bird Light and The Patron Saint of Cauliflower.

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