You offered me your hand—inside of it, the seed of a rose. I took it, kept it inside the wet of my mouth, swallowed it, like a pill against my stubborn solitude. & overnight, it blossomed. I woke up to red petals flushing from my pores. My skin, a garden flourished in your scent. Tell me, what, my new love, have you done to me? I who treat loneliness like a pearl, polishing the precious orb. You have shattered it, re- placed the winds with your arms. I turn to my misery & you are there. I place a finger on my lip & it is a layer of yours. What, my new love, have you done? You saviour. You oblivious saviour. I kneel to the glory of your hands. Touch me like a river guiding a boat. I who has grown ignorant, forgotten what a body can do to another, what a body can cause another to do. Or is it the other way around? Boat guiding river. All I know is this thirst wades through me, your eyes stirring the water. Your eyes, the water staring at me.
Beeper Peddle is a writer and healer living on the East Coast. She lives with her partner and their beloved soul puppy. Beeper writes about sorrows, lies, and deep loves. When you read her work, you will dip down into her heart and end up in all manner of body parts. Should you find yourself reflected in these words, it is merely coincidence; however, it does not surprise her you share the same heart. Find her at bethpeddle.com and @beeperpeddle on Twitter and Instagram
Samuel A. Adeyemi is the author of the chapbook Heaven is a Metaphor. He is a Poetry Editor at Afro Literary Magazine and a Poetry Reader at Salamander Ink. A Best of the Net Nominee and the winner of The Yellow House Library Prize for Creativity and Teex Prize for Performance 2021, his poems have appeared in Palette Poetry, Frontier Poetry, 580 Split, The Maine Review, Blue Marble Review, Brittle Paper, Jalada, and elsewhere. When he is not writing, he enjoys watching anime and listening to a variety of music.
miniskirt magazine 