Size / / /

(for Leah)

They warned me not to go to Carterhaugh—

Tam Lin was there

And he had a reputation

For using women.

But I went anyway,

And he wasn't so bad looking.

Tam Lin

Had some sort of thing going

With the Queen of Faery.

I fell off my horse, he told me;

I fell asleep;

The Queen enchanted me.

Yeah, right—at least Thomas never lied about it.

Rescue me, Tam Lin said—

Like I owed him something

For a roll in the rose-garden.

She'll turn me into an adder, he said.

Big news.

I've known a lot of snakes.

She'll turn me into a wild beast, he said;

I've known men like that, too.

She'll turn me into a flame, he said—

Like I haven't been burned before.

Sorry, I told him,

You can go to Hell—

I'm just here

To say good-bye.

I'll tell my folks you're shacked up with some queen.

. . . The kid's great

Though it's kind of hard raising him alone.

But I'm not worried.

If my knight never comes.

Hey—once you've strapped it on a few times,

You find out armor ain't so hard to wear.




Bio to come.
Current Issue
10 Feb 2025

The editors for the AfroSurrealism Special invite you to submit fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.
he curls his bicep into ever more and more and more bicep
Hush. He sees through / the static. Softly. It sees him back.
“Please also be reminded of the following prohibited items,” the clerk explains kindly. “No chemicals or toxic substances. No fluids over 1,000 milliliters. No lithium batteries, laptop chargers and power banks, no love, no light, no family, no safety.”
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Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Sandrine by Alexandra Munck, read by Claire McNerney. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
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