She flew down from nowhere
from above the clouds
wings and head of an eagle
tail of a devil
vaguely human, naked, skin metallic bronze
and screeching from her beak
She tore my arm with her dagger claws
Struggling to stay calm, I asked her: what do you want?
She scratched my chest
her yellow eyes never blinking
She could only caw, yet I understood
Don’t you recognize me?
She raked ribbons of flesh from my thighs
her tail whipping, slicing the air
feathers scattering in a dervish wind
She lifted me into the sky
flew me over the smoldering volcano
and I knew that she would drop me in
But she didn’t
We rose higher, spiraling up until
the atmosphere darkened and thinned
until I saw stars
the moon no longer a flat disk
but a huge, craggy orb
My arms flapped like wings
Author Bio:
Lytton Bell has published five books: A Path before Winter (1998), The Book of Chaps (2002), Nectar (2011), Poetica Erotica, Volume One (2012), and Body Image (2013), won seven poetry contests and has been the featured reader at many California literary venues. Her work has appeared in over five dozen publications. As a teenager, Lytton won a scholarship to the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts, where she studied with Deb Burnham and the late Len Roberts. Lytton graduated magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr College. Email her at [email protected].
from above the clouds
wings and head of an eagle
tail of a devil
vaguely human, naked, skin metallic bronze
and screeching from her beak
She tore my arm with her dagger claws
Struggling to stay calm, I asked her: what do you want?
She scratched my chest
her yellow eyes never blinking
She could only caw, yet I understood
Don’t you recognize me?
She raked ribbons of flesh from my thighs
her tail whipping, slicing the air
feathers scattering in a dervish wind
She lifted me into the sky
flew me over the smoldering volcano
and I knew that she would drop me in
But she didn’t
We rose higher, spiraling up until
the atmosphere darkened and thinned
until I saw stars
the moon no longer a flat disk
but a huge, craggy orb
My arms flapped like wings
Author Bio:
Lytton Bell has published five books: A Path before Winter (1998), The Book of Chaps (2002), Nectar (2011), Poetica Erotica, Volume One (2012), and Body Image (2013), won seven poetry contests and has been the featured reader at many California literary venues. Her work has appeared in over five dozen publications. As a teenager, Lytton won a scholarship to the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts, where she studied with Deb Burnham and the late Len Roberts. Lytton graduated magna cum laude from Bryn Mawr College. Email her at [email protected].
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