Neozoa
digging out
the slashed heart
of the gods
the colour of your words
is
dark earth
another Queen
rules here
(how deep
Her blood
runs here)
fathomless and winding
with gnarled hands
her vulpine twins
growling vessels
hollowed and
adorned
with
deceit and
glistening
belladonna
eyes
pulsating through
through honeysuckle and
Cartwheel flowers
unburnt
a panting interlude of
black flesh
and crawling lacerations
on copper moonlight skin
at the temple
candles lit in the shadows
uncloak
the blinding light of
adoration
shining upon
the last crow
pleading with
an invasive species
the slashed heart
of the gods
the colour of your words
is
dark earth
another Queen
rules here
(how deep
Her blood
runs here)
fathomless and winding
with gnarled hands
her vulpine twins
growling vessels
hollowed and
adorned
with
deceit and
glistening
belladonna
eyes
pulsating through
through honeysuckle and
Cartwheel flowers
unburnt
a panting interlude of
black flesh
and crawling lacerations
on copper moonlight skin
at the temple
candles lit in the shadows
uncloak
the blinding light of
adoration
shining upon
the last crow
pleading with
an invasive species
Kate MacAlister is an author, feminist activist and founder of the multilingual community arts and literature project Stimmen der Rebellion/Dengê Berxwedane/Voices of Rebellion. Her works have been published in journals and anthologies all over the world. Kate’s debut chapbook “Songs of the Blood” is filled with stories of human connection and the dreams of revolution. It will be published with Querencia Press in August 2022. Coffee, her cat Bella and, naturally, her activist friends are particularly important for her creative process. Find Kate on Instagram at @kissed.by_fire.