lindworm’s bride

by Allister Nelson

Monster, monster, looking glass

ivory brush, carved of bone

Lindworm licks my throat.

Burgundy cloth, creme white lace

bloodstained wedding gown

It takes a moment to break you.

Golden circlet, four-poster bed

bones beneath the wounds.

Bleed. Bleed slow,

strip back skin:

I can save you – save you.

Washerwoman, sting with lye

Scrub away the exile,

Prince beneath, beneath the scale.

My binding is my wretchedness

Serpent nor I speak.

Seven snakeskins, burned away

Naked, newborn, trembling

Come to me, I whisper.

Stumble, shiver, to the bed

Halted, ragged wind-

Breath greedy.

Human lunged.

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