Size / / /

Blanched by the sun, with every last bit

of moisture in us boiled out

by the violent breath of summer,

we are the flaycrakes and bogles, murmets

and mawkins, shayles and terriculae—

the scarers of crows, in other words.

To us is given the ancient task of guardianship.

Strung up on our armatures of wood, it is we

who feign life every time the wind blows.

Small matter that we are slowly being erased

from the world mote by mote. Our mission

is to frighten off those who would steal from

our fields (though it is us who hang crucified

like thieves).

On a dawn to dusk basis, no prayers animate

our tedium; for beings such as we, God is dirt

and sky, a scythe of green field and remote stars.

At night, however, we convene and converse,

using bats as our proxies. Did you hear the one

about the farmer's daughter? This is our

favorite joke.

So the days go, from June to October. But just

when we think our stewardship may endure forever,

there comes a morn of killing frost. The harvest

must now be undertaken quickly, and to propitiate

the gods of barn and commerce, our maker burns

himself in effigy: one fatal spark and soon all of his

straw children are ablaze, shivering with fire—but

not before he applies a final chrism of mud,

painting a smile on each.

Mine, I can still feel, as it's the last thing to ignite.

If it looks anything like the others, it could be a bird.




Robert Borski works for a consortium of elves repairing shoes in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. You can read more of his work in our archives.
Current Issue
3 Feb 2025

By: Mu Cao
Translated by: Hongwei Bao
too many things left unsaid/ words fold into themselves 
在沒有時間的Hotel California,Isa成為我的時間。
By: Hsin-Hui Lin
Translated by: Ye Odelia Lu
In the timeless space that is Hotel California, Isa becomes my time.
不思議な道でした。どこまで行っても闇夜。
By: Mayumi Inaba
Translated by: Yui Kajita
It was a strange road. Endless dark night no matter how far I walked.
Issue 27 Jan 2025
By: River
Issue 20 Jan 2025
Strange Horizons
By: Michelle Kulwicki
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 13 Jan 2025
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
Load More