Daphne in the Dark
will you tread softly
if you go?
will you leave me awake
with anxious ears
clinging to
your jacket’s rustle
a prophecy in a tongue
i never learned
will you deprive me of conclusion as
the door glides into the frame’s embrace
with nothing but a sigh
will you leave me
open and
paralyzed
while your cologne vanishes
in stagnant air
while
i, bewildered,
replay again
how
steadily
you drew me in
made me feel the warmth
Eurydice’s Hymn
i discovered i could spell
anything
as long
as
i
started with
the letters of your name
so i follow you
with my head down and
sneakers on and
now only one
song remains:
don’t ask
if he is
true,
if he is
certain,
if he is
here,
don’t ask
Remember Me?
you devoured me, an apricot
did you find the stone amidst
that red-black blood
bubbling from the pits your incisors bore
i consumed you, a wafer
firmly placed, dissolving on my tongue
you vanished into dark caverns
i can hear you
still pulsing in the velvet sound –
oh yes, remember me?
An Austin native, Hooks ’18 graduated with Phi Beta Kappa and Highest Distinction in English. Recently, her work garnered the Anne Flexner Award for Poetry, the Council for the Arts Award for Excellence, and the Academy of American Poets Prize. More of her poetry is available in APSU’s Red Mud Review and Z Publishing’s North Carolina’s Best Emerging Poets.
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