Millais Malaise
I’m too tired to live,
can’t I just drift down
the river like Ophelia?
Palms empty and exposed,
floating on forever.
Petals turning to mulch
against my corpse skin,
amphibious and repulsive.
Leaves tangled up in
my sopping wet hair.
Let my eyes bug out,
my face turn a grisly grey.
Let my blubber peel away
and my bones sink to
the bottom of the river bed.
Kirsty A. Niven lives in Dundee, Scotland. Her writing has appeared in anthologies Strength, The Alien Buddha’s Feminist Agenda and Landfall. She has also been featured in several journals and magazines, including The Poet’s Republic, Cicada Magazine, Monstrous Regiment and Silk + Smoke.
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