what is inside you, toad
what witness   your ancient eyes

            did she carry you in her pocket did her fingers
caress the bulbs and craters of your skull
did your ribs rebirth
after the squire’s dog mauled her in the march mizzle

what    witness:
the view from the summit was primrose and low

low and jewel-stark
witness the stars crumbling around her as
her molecules              copulated like fireflies with the swampy sky
released by rage
how long did you watch
how many skins
did you crawl out of into
centuries                      hunger-lit?

Anna Rivers

---

Anna Rivers is a PhD candidate at the University of Warwick, where her research explores haunting and mysticism in nineteenth-century women’s poetry. Her own poetry and short fiction have been published in magazines including STORGY, Ash Tales, The Eunoia Review and Book of Matches.

Artwork: Annie Stegg
Website: https://www.gallerygerard.com/the-art-of-annie-stegg

 

31 Oct This entry was published on October 31, 2022 at 12:05 am and is filed under 53 (October 2022), Poetry. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.