person Holly Lyn Walrath, one poem

Holly Lyn Walrath’s poetry and short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, Luna Station Quarterly, Liminality, and elsewhere. Her chapbook of words and images, Glimmerglass Girl, will be published by Finishing Line Press in 2018. She holds a B.A. in English from The University of Texas and a Master’s in Creative Writing from the University of Denver. She is a freelance editor and host of The Weird Circular, an e-newsletter for writers containing submission calls and writing prompts. You can find her canoeing the bayou in Seabrook, Texas, on Twitter @HollyLynWalrath, or at http://www.hlwalrath.com

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Espejitos

in the night glass is everywhere / making the concrete a river / dusting the filth with nymph sweat / so as to rarify the mist / mirroring dashboard altars / hiding in storefronts / echoing in gutters / glass is dangerous / glass is invisible / glass is dirty /

fluttering amidst the stars / stands the thin black stalk / of a glimmerglass girl /

her maker made her to disappear / dim / fade away / outline / to paraphrase / herself /

catch her—catcher—scoop her up in your hand

grasp the thin chitin / of her butterfly wings / like holding onto the surface of water / between two fingerprints / between your teeth / rub away her scales / with the heat of your skin /

but before you imprint yourself / on the thin of her wings / remember the question / unasked / yes or no? /

burn it into your retinas / tattoo it on your cheeks / tuck it into your manly smile / learn how to ask / so that she can say no / you may be unfamiliar with this answer / no /

but remember the properties of glass / or her ghost may follow you in the mirrors / forever / in store windows / forever / in the glint of your razor blade / no / forever / no /

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