Cursory Sorcery
While I wait for you. Late. Again.
I pick blue periwinkles to flower my stew,
a brew of spider’s legs and cobweb broth
to chase away the dusty moths that brave the lamp
then fall dead on our starched linen tablecloth.
Where were you tonight? You. Yes. You.
I don’t know. Should I shut my eyes to all you do?
I try to go steady, but my pulse thumps holes in my chest.
I walk round and round as rage jerks my arms up and down
and works waspy words, venom stung, in my witch’s tongue.
My pointy mind traps me, I imagine what only you can see.
I am poisoned by your X-ray eyes, quick to despise my brain
and the bumpy hummocks of my belly, stretched by three.
You call me witch and crone and, if you’re right,
I’ll cast a lethal spell and set us, all five, free.
Ceinwen E Cariad Haydon lives in Newcastle upon Tyne and writes short stories and poetry. She has been published in on line magazines and in print anthologies. She graduated with an MA in Creative Writing from Newcastle University in 2017.