I Keep Dreaming of my Scarab Pendant
You know me by my tooth enamel.
I am skull, death in gold and malachite,
cinnebared by rising suns, blood’s zest.
I am woman of silence and feathers,
moaning at the king’s touch,
screaming to the gods at my sons’ births.
My heart flutters for want of my old nurse,
my siblings. They loved me for my squint.
I am woman of dance and flirtations.
You don’t know what I forsook.
Maggie Mackay’s pamphlet The Heart of the Run, 2018 is published by Picaroon Poetry and her full collection A West Coast Psalter, Kelsay Books, is available now. In 2020 she was awarded a place in the Poetry Archive’s WordView permanent collection. She reviews poetry pamphlets at https://sphinxreview.co.uk (Happenstance Press) . Twitter:@Bonniedreamer