the siren's heart

poetry by Lauren Walsburg

i ate up my own heart
no vein or valve was spared
sinew and sin disappeared
leaving an empty cavity behind

then i met a siren
she told me a tale of my future
the despair to come and the hope to be smothered
she laughed –
i wept
time froze
i ripped out her heart
and wrote a new future for myself upon it

i plunged her heart into my empty cavity
it sat there nice and snug

she swore to obey me
and i swore to keep her heart safe
but the darkness crept back in
with nothing to keep it at bay

so once again i ate up my own heart
the one that had once belonged to the siren
i ate it until nothing was left
and the siren took her last breath

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Lauren Walsburg is an Australian writer, editor, and artist. Her work has been featured or is forthcoming in Skive Magazine, The Mystic Blue Review, Umbel & Panicle, The Green Light and Riggwelter. She is the Prose Editor of Cauldron Anthology and Minute Magazine, Blog Editor/Interview Correspondent for The Cerurove and Copy Editor of Newfound. Her debut poetry collection Ink Stained Heart was released in April 2017.