A goldish crown with rust lubed away and enough herbs smeared in to make a dragon weep from the heat of the flames it conjures, a smock soaked with alcohol disguised as the musky perfumes of the homeland I left for him—
when they speak of hell and my fury they forget that a Colchian girl like me doesn’t believe in such places.
There is no hell but a fuckboy who waits until you chop your very brother into pieces on the promise of his love atop the ship in whose deck he hides the magic wheel a goddess gave him to bewitch you into wanting, then takes you home to meet his new bride. Sing me,
O Muse, of the murderous bitch they made me. Sing loudly, keeping them awake past dawn with your singing so they’re good and groggy when I set their kingdoms aflame.
Jacob Budenz is a queer writer, multi-disciplinary performer, educator, and witch with an MFA from University of New Orleans and a BA from Johns Hopkins University. The author of PASTEL WITCHERIES (Seven Kitchens Press 2018), Budenz has fiction and poetry in journals including Slipstream, Entropy Magazine, Wizards in Space, Pussy Magic, and more as well as anthologies by Mason Jar Press, Lycan Valley Press, and Mad Scientist Journals. You can follow Jake's work, which emphasizes encounters between the "other" and the otherworldly, on Instagram (@dreambabyjake), Twitter (@jakebeearts), and the internet beyond (www.jakebeearts.com).
Author image by Clare Welsh.