my soul is one of song prose and poetry dance in my heart and mind both, and you were my favorite song for a time; but you always spurned my sexual advances unless you were in the mood too-- once you told me that i was a succubus, but i have always been a siren because music and water touch every point of my soul; i wanted you to be my heart's duet the melody in me that never died-- i wanted you fully as i gave myself fully to you, but i was always told that i was too driven and too focused upon my sexual appetites that i should pray for redemption; but why should i be shamed for feeling the same way you did for me? i suppose it's because i'm a woman that i should want to be something innocent and pure, but i have always been a shade of grey; honesty, love, and light with a thousand flaws yet beautiful in my own way. About Linda M. CrateLinda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville. Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. Recently she had two chapbooks published, A Mermaid Crashing Into Dawn (Fowlpox Press - June 2013) and Less Than A Man (The Camel Saloon - January 2014). Her fantasy novel Blood & Magic was published in March 2015. The second novel of this series, Dragons & Magic, was published in October 2015, and the third, Centaurs & Magic, was published November 2016.
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It looks like the powder they put on the top of glazed donuts But it is more like the rat poison you find in a box. It calls to me like a siren song And I find a five dollar bill between my fingers, rolling itself up into a cylinder. It’s crushed and ready, waiting in three perfectly straight lines So I lean over, placing my pink cylinder just inside my nose. It finds its way inside me quickly, until there’s nothing left but dust Which I wipe up with my finger and rub against my teeth. It doesn’t even have a taste, I’m so far gone My siren is quiet, her song answered. It doesn’t fill me with the feeling that it used to I’m numb to almost everything now. It’s killing me, I think And I don’t know if I care. It is the only thing in the world for me My siren and I. It might be the death of me But it’s saved me so many times I find it hard to condemn it. It whispers as I drift off to sleep Come find me when you wake. About Chiara SullivanChiara Sullivan is a voracious reader who spends far too much time wandering the well worn paths of her imagination. At any given time you can find her blogging here or here, tweeting, andinstagramming. Her work has been previously published on The Regal Fox.
They try to mask the chants with sirens trumping from white castles on distant hilltops, but they are no match for the majesty of voices joined as one and comrades arm-in-arm. Picking up fallen sisters and sympathetic brothers encountered on the way, we shall help them scrape the grit from their shins; the skin stolen in protest from beneath their nails, and hand them back the voices torn from their throats so that we may take up the cry as one: “Enough is enough”. They’ll tell most it’s what they’re owed for venturing beyond their designated shores, and so it’s up to us to bring them ruin; one song at a time. About Callum McLaughlinCallum McLaughlin is a passionate bookworm, crazy-cat-person in training, and freelance writer based in Scotland. If he isn’t writing his own works of fiction and poetry, he will most likely be found reading someone else’s.
Blog: https://callummclaughlin.wordpress.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Callum_M1 i always wanted you to draw nearer to allow my desires to wash over you, but it was always what you wanted; heaven forbid i should want you because that was strange or exasperating yet you could want me whenever you so pleased-- my desires and my needs were left unmet and so i became the succubus or siren that always taunted you with my song, but i see nothing wrong with admitting i wanted you and wanting your body upon my body shouldn't have been such a big deal if you were honest with yourself i think you'd see the way you treated me was wrong-- i don't understand why a man can be an imp without insult, but a woman must always remain "pure" with only thoughts of virtue she cannot house any sexual appetites of her own. About Linda M. CrateLinda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville. Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. Recently she had two chapbooks published, A Mermaid Crashing Into Dawn (Fowlpox Press - June 2013) and Less Than A Man (The Camel Saloon - January 2014). Her fantasy novel Blood & Magic was published in March 2015. The second novel of this series, Dragons & Magic, was published in October 2015, and the third, Centaurs & Magic, was published November 2016.
Social media links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorlindamcrate/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thysilverdoe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Linda-M-Crate-129813357119547/ Fingers - Curling, aching, and wanting The warmth of your skin. Lips - Parted, soft, and waiting For the brush of yours. Skin - Cold, goosebumped, and needing Your touch. Body - Empty, shaking, and craving Everything you give. Heart - Pounding, beating, and living For you. About Chiara SullivanChiara Sullivan is a voracious reader who spends far too much time wandering the well worn paths of her imagination. At any given time you can find her blogging here or here, tweeting, and instagramming. Her work has been previously published on The Regal Fox.
i was always taught that sex before marriage was wrong, and the desire of it was sinful; so i always buried and repressed my sexual appetites and desires beneath the tapestry of my mind until i began to see myself as disgusting when i thought of it saw myself as impure-- never told anyone when i was horny for fear of scorn or laughter not even my best friend knew of my sexual desires always kept them to myself because that's what i taught proper girls did, and now i feel so backward like a harpy whose claws cut inward or a siren being killed with her own song; sometimes i just want to break open the girl i once was, and tell her that everyone has urges for sex whether it's wrong or right only heaven knows. About Linda M. CrateLinda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville. Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. Recently she had two chapbooks published, A Mermaid Crashing Into Dawn (Fowlpox Press - June 2013) and Less Than A Man (The Camel Saloon - January 2014). Her fantasy novel Blood & Magic was published in March 2015. The second novel of this series, Dragons & Magic, was published in October 2015, and the third, Centaurs & Magic, was published November 2016.
Social media links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorlindamcrate/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thysilverdoe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Linda-M-Crate-129813357119547/ She incubates a voice woven through time from layer upon layer of swallowed words. Fearing a destiny of deafened ears and a lifetime hiding in the hollows of their bones, she saves it for her sisters; a gift of warning brought about through the siege of her body, his fantasies outweighing evidence of bloody stumps where once her wings stood proud. "When ships break waves upon the horizon, girls, I beg you drown yourselves in dignity and ice, lest the fire of man try to burn everything you are, reducing you to nothing but an offering of fine, soft ash carried from his hands like a whisper in the breeze." About Callum McLaughlinCallum McLaughlin is a passionate bookworm, crazy-cat-person in training, and freelance writer based in Scotland. If he isn’t writing his own works of fiction and poetry, he will most likely be found reading someone else’s.
Blog: https://callummclaughlin.wordpress.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Callum_M1 Her fingers trailing my skin Feels like nerve endings torn open in a surgery of lies. Of: you are mine Of: I am yours Her lips speak of death and destruction, But all I hear is the cacophony of her vowels And the delicacy of her consonants. She’s bad for you, people say, And I ignore their words Because I live in a world where violence is love, And love is softness, And softness is death, And death is obsolete. So with smiles and nods of assurance I tell them I’m fine. Fine like: a sharpened pencil scratching out song lyrics on a school desk Fine like: the edges of teeth snagging on flesh Fine like: I’m drowning but it’s okay, she breathes for me Fine like: I can’t save myself, not this time Fine like Fine like Fine like My world is a kaleidoscope and she’s the one turning, constantly turning Everything upside down And me inside out. About Chiara SullivanChiara Sullivan is a voracious reader who spends far too much time wandering the well worn paths of her imagination. At any given time you can find her blogging here or here, tweeting, and instagramming. Her work has been previously published on The Regal Fox.
i wonder what you thought when we made love or if you even thought of anything at all other than satisfying your own need because you always made me feel inadequate, shameful, and ridiculous when i craved your touch; as if to be aware of myself and my sexual desires was something i needed to repent of-- somehow it was perfectly okay for you to take my virginity, but i was in the wrong for wanting and desiring more of you than you were willing to give me; for wanting your body on my body as often as i did-- you insisted that i was a succubus never satisfied, but perhaps if you gave me attention i would have found some satisfaction; instead of all the wounds you inflicted upon my heart. About Linda M. Crate.Linda M. Crate is a Pennsylvanian native born in Pittsburgh yet raised in the rural town of Conneautville. Her poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. Recently she had two chapbooks published, A Mermaid Crashing Into Dawn (Fowlpox Press - June 2013) and Less Than A Man (The Camel Saloon - January 2014). Her fantasy novel Blood & Magic was published in March 2015. The second novel of this series, Dragons & Magic, was published in October 2015, and the third, Centaurs & Magic, was published November 2016.
Social media links: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorlindamcrate/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thysilverdoe Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Linda-M-Crate-129813357119547/ Letter from The Editor-in-ChiefDearest Readers,
I am so proud to be writing this letter for Cauldron Anthology. What started out as a vague idea in the back of my head has now been born, and my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude and happiness. This never could have been done without the help of my Co-Founder, Sarah. It took so many emails, tweets, and conversations to get to this place, and now we're finally here. I also want to thank all of my editors. Even though they didn't all get to work on submissions, they've all been so helpful for discussing ideas and for contributing works of their own! Thank you to those who submitted: Linda Crate, Chiara Sullivan, Callum McLaughlin, Zoe Maynard & Lilly Woodbury. Your works have made this issue so special. You took the idea for the issue and created something beautiful. From all of us here at Cauldron Anthology, thank you so so much. Readers, I hope you enjoy this first issue, Siren. The publishing schedule will be as follows: o succubus - April 20 (launch day). Linda Crate o Love's Entrails - April 22. Chiara Sullivan o Incubation - April 24. Callum McLaughlin o only heaven knows - April 26. Linda Crate o Body Parts - April 28. Chiara Sullivan o i am not an insult - April 30. Linda Crate o Protest - May 2. Callum McLaughlin o My Siren - May 4. Chiara Sullivan o the siren's lament - May 6. Linda Crate o Froth - May 8. Zoe Maynard o Lament 1 - May 10. Lilly Woodbury o Lament 2 - May 12. Lilly Woodbury - Abigail Pearson, Founder & Editor-in-Chief. |
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