Size / / /

You prince, you peacock,

you pearl-studded painting,

untouchable as chandeliers—

I could look at you all night.

No nightshade-painted sister matches

the gleam of your teeth,

the flick of your wrist.

See these limbs, dripping fairy gold—

watch the light hit me!—

but don't call me princess.

Trust me: kiss this hand and you'll choke,

tasting pumpkin under my nails.

Beneath this silk I'm dirty as floors.

Isn't it lovely, prince, to dance in the light?

But I wonder; I watch your darting hand

and swinging hilted hip,

plagued by political pigeons—

Highness, won't you? Highness, consider

with threats in their teeth.

More birds peck at your eyes

than ever flocked round a cinder bed.

Yet, stepping lightly, you smile.

I think I will lend you a shoe when I leave.

You look like a man

who can dance on glass.




Ada Hoffmann is the author of The Outside and Monsters in My Mind. Her writing has appeared in Strange Horizons, Asimov's, and Uncanny. She is a computer scientist, a classically trained soprano, and an autistic self-advocate. You can find her online at http://ada-hoffmann.com/ or on Twitter at @xasymptote.
Current Issue
13 Jan 2025

She doesn’t realize that she’s made of ticks until she gets her nipples pierced.
The Verona National Laboratory in Italy, specializing in tragic and unresolved love, was selected for all experimental work.
In this episode of Strange Horizons @ 25, producer Michael Ireland sits down with acclaimed SF author John Scalzi to discuss his 2001 story Alien Animal Encounters, which just so happens to be the only story he ever submitted anywhere.
remember, you are not alone, / and you have fury / as well as faith
Wednesday: The City in Glass by Nghi Vo 
Friday: Withered Hill by David Barnett 
Issue 6 Jan 2025
By: Samantha Murray
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 23 Dec 2024
Issue 16 Dec 2024
Issue 9 Dec 2024
Issue 2 Dec 2024
By: E.M. Linden
Podcast read by: Jenna Hanchey
Issue 25 Nov 2024
Issue 18 Nov 2024
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
Issue 11 Nov 2024
Issue 4 Nov 2024
Issue 28 Oct 2024
Load More