The Mermaid of Lincoln Park Lagoon

Poetry

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Valya Dudycz Lupescu

Storytellers speak of stolen lives,
enchanted with a song,
slipped beneath the surface—
desire distilled.

Mine is not a beautiful hunger.
I am brittle from wind and weeping,
hollowed out with longing,
an unused instrument.

I want; I want; I want
to touch you,
but all I have is sound,
the mass of shadows.

If only it were simple
to break free from the scales,
to caress with more than smoke of sighs,
I would escape the fairytale.

Each time I see you, I break
and open,
the weight of all I’ll never have
so heavy in my mouth.

Valya Dudycz Lupescu is the author of The Silence of Trees and founding editor of Conclave: A Journal of Character. Her poetry and prose have been published in Gone Lawn, Jersey Devil Press, Mythic Delirium, Danse Macabre, Fickle Muses, Abyss & Apex, Pedestal Magazine, Doorknobs & Bodypaint, and other places. Since earning her MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Valya has worked as a college professor, obituary writer, content manager, goth cocktail waitress, and co-producer of an independent feature film. Her first comic book, Sticks & Bones, created with artist Madeline C. Matz, was successfully crowdfunded via kickstarter. They are now working on the next three issues to be published by First Comics. Her website is www.vdlupescu.com.