the cover is by blue j.! find her on tumblr at kerahlynch or at riddlejams@gmail.com!

1. an ode to love

2. time of death

3. perfer et obdura, dolor hic tibi proderit olim (tw: allusion to self-harm)

4. a gothic death is a polite one (tw: mentions of suicide and drug use)

5. what is the opposite of metamorphosis?

6. museum display (tw: homophobia, implied suicide)

7. holy, holy, holy

        lover, we are digg-

ing our ribs into motel walls

as an anchor.

we are molting hair to keep

a mark of ourselves here,

leaving nail scratches in

starch drowned sheets.

        we danced to the string

instruments of our gods.

the devil was beautiful,

once. as were we.

        this is how it feels to write

a swan song,

all burnt out like

the match in your

hand.

haunted girl, gone girl,

p a s t  girl.

i made myself this way.

i do not know how

to begin myself

again.

all broken nails

and burnt finger-

tips and eyes

like the mouth of a

dragon.

clinging onto a

path of broken glass

with the ability of

an ice cube

found in the sahara.

ribs burning away,

a hollow soul,

angel wings burned

away and their

ashes

falling on a forest fire.

a bone deep ache

and blood deep in the

belly of a tiger,

or a lion or something

else fierce.