Elizabeth Sackett's interest in mythology started with an early obsession with Medusa that never quite went away. Her poetry and stories can be found in such publications as Neon Literary Magazine, Wild Musette, Visitant Lit, The Literary Nest and Relief, among others, and her first micro-chapbook, SOAPnotes, was published online through Ghost City Press in 2018. A writer, artist and performer from Long Island, New York, she finds her work concerns itself with such topics as mental illness, power structures, the uncertain chaos of daily living, and monsters. She has a degree in creative writing from SUNY Geneseo. Check out her website (www.elizabethesackett.com) or her Instagram (changeling_fae) for information on current endeavors.
Oceanic
Birdsong-pang, shifting,
sweeping. His body is
a strange claw, a spiral
of quick hunger, and that’s
when he uncovers it.
My shirt peels away
and the whirlpool is
there, red and watery,
angry on my breastbone.
He stares at it. Dips
his tongue in the water
like a puppy, pulls his
head back before the maw
can consume.
“It’s always been there,”
I don’t say against
his shoulder, prickle of
neck, beneath his soft dark
hair, beneath
the cat summer.
“It bites,” I don’t
say. But he says
here like a gift. A
crisp apple on his
tongue. He gnaws me
silver, and the waves lap
against him.