i am made of fairytales and massacres

by Nikkin Rader

something afoot in the meadow harks darkly creature
made of hair and iron and bullets and gov’t ids
they put knives in our curls and burn petals off
hushy wild night we are darkly too and cannot keep
off the hilltops – wary land of goatskins and beetleshells,
nightingale beaks and whispery lies of children sweet–
reddened legs slip over dewy grass, do you lips over
navel ground and spill into the spoon of the shadows?
barn loft aflame, set me to timberwolves howl under
mooneyes flabbergasted at the sight of thorns in paw

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Nikkin Rader has an MFA in Poetry and grad minor in Gender & Sexuality Studies.  Her works can be found in lipstickparty mag, COAL magazine, leopardskin and limes, and the Cauldron Anthology. Stay tuned for more of her poetry in our Hallow’s Eve issue!