Song of Aftermath​

Issue 13

We spun through this dark together
were each other’s warm river
 
so this doesn’t make sense
these things you’ve done
 
the news that burst my eardrums
and sandpapered my skin
 
sucker punched me in the gut
ruptured organs
 
rivers of blood drained from my body
coated my fingers
 
slicked my hair
as if you’d clubbed me
 
left me on the corner
or dumped my body
 
in the sinks, Sink Canyon, Wyoming,
yes
 
yes
this was murder
massacre
desecration
 
an absolute genocidal hymn
against love
 
and somewhere in the world
bombs drop
 
shells splinter lives
and metal winged men
 
frenzied
 
contort the bodies of innocents
consign them to unlit regions
 
until they rise, invisibly bright,
upon a bridge of birds,
 
and so too will my center lift, soar,
as invincible decibels of flightsong
 
elevate me, alchemic,
from this slaughterhouse floor.

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Ruth Martinez has works published in Ofrenda Magazine, Lunaluna, Cordella Press, Poetry As Promised, Witchology Magazine, The Hopper, Black Moon Magazine and Ice Floe Press. She co-wrote an Indie book of poetry, Crow Moon, with her good comadre Anna Griego, and Bottlecap Press published her chapbook Root Women.

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