3rd Place Fall Poetry Contest: k i n g d o m - Christopher Cannon

The metallic gloss of gilded ferns

twists and ladders up 

the ivy-towered trellis 

nailed down into 

my left side             —(bridging 

                           the gaps 

                       between 

                 my ribs)—

glistening droplets of blood

escape from my eyes 

and blossom into a hydra 

crafted from 

the translucent skin

of thirty-odd carnation petals: 

          This communion is for 

          the lost boys—what if 

          I had succeeded in taking 

          my own life? Would 

                              I be housed

                             in this

                            purgatory, too, 

                           fratello?

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Christopher Cannon is a PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh. He produces sonics and visuals repesenting marginalized communities when not teaching. His works have appeared in the Oakland Arts Review and the Case Reserve Review.