Ed note: An earlier version of this poem originally appeared at honeyfirelit in October 2021.
You and I could simply touch
we’d create
a monster
six-legged mare
it wouldn’t fit in a barn we’d need to retreat
past punishing valleys
past the antler trail
they couldn’t reach us
see what we’ve done
what we’ve made
I do like
our nightmare stallion
black flamed grace
she comes and goes
shuffling on snow
six six
six six
six six
at night
she hunts
we don’t know
what she finds
or what she eats
or what she wants
she reminds me of us
no questions no origins
bad omens born
from nature’s wrath
what did they think would happen
if we did
touch?
Jessica Jemalem Ginting is a poet, editor, translator and comic writer from Jakarta, Indonesia, currently living in London. She writes in the realm of speculative poetry, with influences from genre literature and films. If she were to abandon everything tomorrow, she would run away to take a beekeeping course and join a forest restoration project. She enjoys the concept of gender, but does not have one. Her latest ‘apocalyptic-party’ themed poetry chapbook, Voyages, was published by Bottlecap Press in 2021.