Size / / /

There is a thread between us,
Taut with fate, red as blood.
A push & pull,
Attraction, rejection.
But I think we’re wrong
For each other.
I am the hart and you are the hunter.

I might have wanted you and your
Tender touch, nuzzling at
My white throat
My slender limbs.
But I think you wanted more
to possess my body, soul and
I cannot be owned.

So I fled your grasping hands to avoid
The broken dreams, bitter bones
And your anger
like rocks thrown.
You gave chase, the hot pursuit
Nipping at my heels.

Through fields and over hills I ran
Like nymphs and ill-fated maids,
Fleet-footed to
The ancient forest
Where witches once played. For
Sanctuary I prayed.

Butterflies and pulses fluttering,
We stirred the forgotten spaces.
You, unrelenting
Me, unforgiving
Ashes, an all consuming fire.
Regret like cobwebs of us.

All things cycle, even this, us
Desire to love to fear to
Burning want,
Breathless need.
Between the blazing trees, our eyes lock
Something flickers in me.

Sometimes it's not the devil you meet
In the dark and wild places.
Wolf mother
Lunar archer
I found my horn-crowned
Chthonic goddess.

There is a bowstring between us,
Taut with power, red as blood.
A draw & release
Agitation, transformation
And I think we're wrong
For each other.
You are the hart and I am the hunter.




Alice is a Taiwanese-American poet whose work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Liminality, Polu Texni, and Through the Gate. She loves magic, myth, and women who persist. She hates running. You can find her online at Girl On The Roam (girlontheroam.wordpress.com) or perennially on Twitter @kangaru, chatting about books and superheroes.
Current Issue
4 Nov 2024

“Did you know,” the witch says, “that a witch has no heart of her own?”
Outsiders, Off-worlders {how quickly one carves out a corner of the cosmos, / claims a singular celestial body as [o u r s] in the scope of infinity}
Lunar enby folks across here
Wednesday: The 2024 Ignyte Award for Best Novel Shortlist, Part Two 
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