Foxy Knoxy
Foxy Knoxy is in the courtroom. Her hair in a greasy ponytail. Her forehead is furrowed. Her skin looks blotchy. She is not wearing makeup. Foxy Knoxy is smiling with her mouth closed. Tattooed on her upper back is a yellow sun.
Foxy Knoxy is in the courtroom. She has on a blue sweater. Her hair is dry. Her eyebrows are knit. Her eyes are clear blue. She is not wearing makeup. A man with white hair, spectacles, and a black uniform has his hand on her shoulder. More black uniforms are behind her. Foxy Knoxy’s mouth is open.
Foxy Knoxy is in the courtroom. Her hair is really short. She is raising her eyebrows. She is not wearing makeup. Her lips are parted. She has on a yellow shirt. Behind her are a blue uniform, and a plaid sleeve.
Foxy Knoxy is at a party. She has on a white, strapless gown and elbow-length satin gloves. Her hair is in an up-do. Foxy Knoxy has dangly rhinestone earrings and a rhinestone necklace. Her eyebrows are plucked. She is wearing some makeup. Her mouth is wide open. Her cheeks flushed. Foxy Knoxy is making a backwards peace sign with one hand. With the other hand she holds a red plastic Solo cup. Five guys surround her, holding beer bottles and plastic cups.
Foxy Knoxy is in a cubicle. A skylight above her. Foxy Knoxy is pushing her hands up against the ceiling. She looks hunched. She has on gold hoop earrings and a green scarf. Foxy Knoxy is smiling. She is wearing some makeup. A blue travel bag sits on her lap.
Foxy Knoxy is outside. Behind her is a tree with green and yellow leaves. A blue car. Foxy Knoxy has on a gray furry hooded sweatshirt. Her hair is messy. Her nose is upturned. Her lips are parted. Cheeks flushed. She is not wearing makeup. Next to her is a man with spectacles and a yellow scarf, whose eyes are shut.
Foxy Knoxy is on trial. She speaks into a microphone. She is squinting and frowning. Foxy Knoxy’s greasy hair is held back with a purple clip. She is not wearing makeup. She has on a shirt with green and pink butterflies. A woman with red glasses sits next to her, watching.
Foxy Knoxy is looking through the dark slats of the bars. She is sitting or kneeling. She has on a navy sweater. Foxy Knoxy’s hands are clasped in front of her. She is not wearing makeup. Her skin is clear. Clearly she is guilty.
I created my first version of Foxy Knoxy in 2011, for my book E! Entertainment. I noticed how Amanda Knox, who had just been released after four years of false imprisonment, was still treated as guilty by the paparazzi and public due to her appearance, facial expressions, clothes, and old unrelated photos of her that surfaced in tabloids. Each poem here is based on an image that popped up when I googled the term “Foxy Knoxy,” which was what the tabloids called her at the time (her “foxiness” further evidence of her “guilt”). For this new version of the poem, I wanted to bring in cryptic ink blot drawings to further capture the way her paparazzi photos were interpreted at the time.
Kate Durbin is a writer and artist from Los Angeles, California. She is the author of five books. Hoarders (Wave Books) was named a best book of 2021 by NPR, Lit Hub, and Electric Literature. Noughties, a radical reissue of her book E! Entertainment (Wonder) with all new drawings and re-imaginings of the original poems and stories, is forthcoming from Wave Books in 2027. Her artwork has been shown or is forthcoming in shows at MOCA Budapest, MOCA Los Angeles, SF MOMA’s Open Space, Picture Berlin, and more.