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Content Warning: blood, references to self-harm
Louise Longson – Kamaitachi
​
I must be possessed
of strong magic. Cunning
as the weasel.
Every summer
holiday, a new amulet; white
heather/rabbit’s foot/voodoo
doll, to guard against your evil eye.
I know every August to September
is the hunting season without knowing
why. Sudden scars are scythed into my skin.
Blood flows from painless wounds.
I’ve sharpened my claws, too.
Louise Longson is a widely published poet in print and online. She is the author of the chapbooks Hanging Fire (Dreich Publications, 2021) and Songs from the Witch Bottle (Alien Buddha Press, 2022). She works from her home in a small rural village on the fringes of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire offering a listening service to people whose physical and emotional distress is caused by loneliness and historic trauma. Her poems are inspired by bringing together her personal and work experiences, seen through the twin prisms of myth and nature. These poems make reference to self-harm and miscarriage. Twitter @LouisePoetical
Artwork: In the Temple by Kyle Masters
Kyle Masters is a Burlington, VT based artist, currently exploring ideas of iconography and symbolism through mixed media. Instagram @pencilpollution
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