
'Tartarus' & 'Elisbieta': Two Poems by Spangle McQueen

TARTARUS
faded tattoos of sad girls and crescent moons
pixelated angels flailing to gothic sounds
inky tears that never dried
waiting for the lyrics of a
plainsong
that bloodshot glaze forever haunts
with curses of Sisyphean
orgasm
burning skin un-nursed leaking a water-coloured realism
ELISBIETA
lost/father/form/amber/love/choice
I dismantled my sestina for you
smashed the stress
fractures
understood
the creation of sun-spangles
and now I face my inclusion
the asterid blossom of strychnine
venom orange
Spangle McQueen is a happy grandma and hopeful poet living in Sheffield. She is proud and grateful to have work accepted and/or published by Three Drops Press; Picaroon; Lonesome October Lit; Bonnie's Crew; Burning House Press; Dwell Collective Zine; Strix; Awkward Mermaid; I am not a Silent Poet; The Writers' Café; Foxglove Journal and Sad Girl Review.