Jai Michelle Louissen – Three Poems
in the beginning, eve
first, a stain
made nothing yet
stolen
a prophecy
existing as flesh
colouring
into damask
the god,
bodiless
thatched
in tamarind
the serpent
sluicing wings
blithely decadent
the soft give
of harps slit open
the bitter drifts
of apple spell
fugitive vessels
transecting time
the garden has tipped over
behind the stars
forgive me
body
it is you
that i am inconsolable
for
the weight of feathers
my heart wrestles with swans. fierce eyes
each a single bite mark. furtive as a river
spirit my bones catch fire. no threat of prey.
the wooden ferris wheel is set loose upon
the land. the wolves run free over the
flensed style. monks chant in my dreams.
each silence fog bound. each feather tied.
wilder still as i stand closer to the edge.
hope is a two feathered word
red skirts willow crook spindle
skull cleft of an owl
how it thunders
she bleeds
there is no stopping it her hands
ancient as water bend backwards.
i thought i heard her through the firs
lament of burning amber
a mother sliding
out of reach
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Jai Michelle Louissen is a Scottish writer, living in the Netherlands. With a background in systemic therapy, specializing in family, ancestors and nature and with a passion for early morning hypnopompic writing, she often writes about trauma and loss infused with Scottish landscapes, or dreamlike portals into wild protoceltic animist cultures and beliefs. She has been published in various magazines and a surrealist chapbook with Sunday Mornings At The River in 2022. She is also the editor of a literary journal, the winged moon. You can also find her on IG and most recently twitter @bornonadarkmoon
Artwork: Drown a Little Slower by d. parker
d. parker is an artist and writer. she has an MA in Creative Writing. her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Atrium, The Belfast Review, Cutbow Quarterly and Strix. her pamphlet, Rush, was published by Bullshit Lit Mag + Press. she is the editor of Needle Poetry.