qarrtsiluni

by morgan downie

they say i am the fruit
of un-natural union
they say that i feed
on the blood of virgins
all these things i hear
though they think i do not
in the darkness it is easy
to create monsters

they descend from above
groove steps with their passing
weave the white threads
of their desire around me
until my bound oxhide glows
and their tongues are sated
in my pale light starved meat
laughing they call this pit
a labyrinth

until a man comes
holds a torch to my face
and in a voice that sounds
like broken jars
tells me i am no more
monster than he
and guides me out
into the brightness

there a woman waiting
and seeing me shrieks
at the secret unbound
blood falls in skeins
let them sing songs the man says
that no-one shall know us
and leads me away
down to the anonymous sea

Download the podcast

morgan downie lives and works in the leafy lushness of central Scotland. His new collection stone and sea is just out from Calderwood Press. He can be found at his website.