Cocytus - Kylie Henderson
poetry ☆
poetry ☆
the game lost all meaning
once desire was found
and lost, an arms race
with the barrel pressed
against my head, against
the altar. ash covers
my mouth and words
fall upon it. pin
me upon your slate
to uncover my need–
ill become sycophantic
if asked, but words fail
when the pulse slows,
a hairpin turn away
from your rest and my
ache, lascivious when
backlit in stained-glass
mosaics, beg me to
undo what has once been
done, favor a power
more potent than death.
i no longer play
and you no longer ask
with your bones too deep
and my head too lost–
your soul fallen too far,
ptolomea transcendent,
virginal skin within an eternal
anima, red stained teeth
enclosed around my throat.
the river drowned
the worst, but the wailing
flowed beneath, leaving
me alone within its rings–
salt stained and hollow
with my purity unmoored.
Kylie Henderson is a poet and student from Iowa City, Iowa studying English Publishing and Business Marketing at the University of Iowa. She co-founded Venus Magazine, a Romance literary magazine on campus, and is the PR Director for New Moon Magazine. After graduating in May, she hopes to work in book publishing and continue to write in her free time. You can find her on Instagram @renkyliee and TikTok @renkyliee!
