Content Warning: bones, dark themes
Rue Collinge - MOSI–OA–TUNYA
The smoke thunders so loud
that it swallows the
skeleton whole. There is
a dark shadow between
them, panting in the
dirt like a dog. This
earth is wounded, leaking
life from her torn
belly where they dug
for the bones. They lie,
fish-silver, gleaming
in the sullen dark
as the moon mouths on
a lullaby. Hush now,
let it fade with the light.
Let such dry bones lie.
Hush, shrieks the night.
* Mosi-oa-tunya - Sotho name for the Victoria falls, meaning “The Smoke Which Thunders”
Tinker, painter, poet, spy… Rue Collinge is a linguist-turned-storyteller living in North-East England. She is currently a semi-finalist in BBC Words First. Raw and lyrical, she has performed across the North-East and on the radio, and was awarded the Larkin Poetry Prize 2020. She helps people find their voice in an increasingly noisy world.
Photograph: Sealight Sonata by JP Seabright
JP Seabright is a queer writer living in London. Their debut prose chapbook will be published by Lupercalia Press in early 2022 and collaborative poetry project published by Nine Pens Press also in 2022. They are Assistant Editor for Full House Lit Mag. More info at https://jpseabright.wordpress.com/ and via Twitter @errormessage.