All poems in this showcase were previously published in Rhythm N Bones Press & Dark Marrow Litmags
bloodflowers from the prison of skin; a bitter pill. unexpected bloodflowers bursting the soil. backwards/a time when we wrested joy from the wind now the knife, a love-shaped gift. you won't know you won't know when the ghost slips out of you whether with a bang or just a breath a step forward or a leap when the smoke clears and you find yourself somewhere unknown you won't know when you've changed just enough to leave behind pieces of yourself crumbs to find your way home when home shifts from comfortable to weary you pack your things and go quietly into the night the compass points north but everything feels south you won't know why the song your heart sings sounds so faded like the beat of a faraway drum you'll follow the river to somewhere new where you can lie your head on a different pillow; count your breaths and start again. thin lines think about what they take yes, but think about how you let them this is how we are raised a temple of loneliness praying to temptation think about what is gained oh, but think about what has been lost if you are a dead butterfly in a jar at least you were pretty enough to collect now, dream about what comes next oh, now, but don't dream too far it is the thin lines that separate what we were from what we have become come taste the wretched honey of my sins wrench the last breath from the poverty of my lungs how many times have i been on my knees praying for the next delicious theft? see these hands built this shrine so that you could worship a come-hither demon. the lie we think of as love. More from Mela below: Mela has been nominated a few times for Best of the Net and has appeared in numerous magazines such as Rust + Moth, Anti-Heroin Chic, South Florida Poetry Journal, Collective Unrest, Rhythm & Bones Lit, The Sierra Nevada Review. Her debut collection Skeleton Parade https://www.apeppublications.com/product/skeleton-parade/
Another Bio: Mela Blust is a moonchild, and has always had an affinity for the darkness. She is a poet, a painter, a sculptor, and a jeweler. She has been writing poetry since she was a child. She currently resides on a small farm in rural Pennsylvania. Her work has appeared in The Bitter Oleander, The Sierra Nevada Review, The Nassau Review, and more. She is a contributing editor of Barren Magazine, and Head Publicist for Animal Heart Magazine.
Fevers of the Mind 