Three Uncanny Poems by Shendra ‘ja Tolliver

New poetry from the two-time Beamont Prize-winner!

Art by Alana Fletcher.

I. i am the thing outside your window

i am the thing outside your window
without a face.
i smile
and
with your grandmother’s voice
i beckon:
   “Come to me, little one
   i have wondrous sights to show you
   and such wondrous sweets to feed you
   i know you like them
   you ate them all up
   long long ago
   when this voice belonged
   to another.”
you can hear my smile widen
this smile of a faceless thing
ever   w   i   d    e      r
w      i      d       e        r           still
w        i          d           e           enough now
to      swallow      you

whole.

It speaks with your grandmother’s voice. Art by Robert Frankel.

II. uncanny suckle on his chest

uncanny suckle
	on his chest
my hunger prisoned
	behind flesh
our bodies couple
	like a nest
hot sweat glistened
	beading fresh
when our seeds scuttle
	fast and deft
his knife positioned
	to enmesh
my claw strikes first
	from the left.

III. they will not find the body

they will not find the body
i am sure of it.
pulled it off me softly
long disposed of calmly
like tattered sleeves
or rotting leaves, or
a thrice-used condom.

Shendra ‘ja Tolliver is a two-time winner of the Beamont Prize and a graduate of the Balladeers’ Workshop at The Magist Imperial University. They have recited their poetry during an imperial audience with the Emperor, himself, and their work has been featured in publications throughout the Distant Reaches. Shendra lives alone in the shadows of the Sindar Mountains. Their first poetry collection is forthcoming.