My body is a cage for
ghosts, and I’ve lost count
            of all the summers they’ve

left me raw. This is how the summoning
begins—in the dark hours, baring
            flesh to rapids, knee-deep and
            hungry, indulged
in the exorcism.
The moon crowns the night, howling
blood-rage and 

crow feet.
            White light
            mirrors whitewater. 

There is salt on my tongue, 
in my lungs--
            all the places 
            I’ve been softened by need or

wanted to be. This burning
             is familiar. 
                            What is it they say about 
             insanity?      
             I give

myself to tumults 
masked as daydreams       folklore and wild things

and I think, Maybe this time

              it’ll be different. I dip my feet
              in the shallows, only
              to crash 
              against the rocks       cleansing turned 
                             feral      body as 
                                           tithe….
                                                          And in the rushing    
              there is nothing
              to do but let the flood unfurl 
                                          the pieces. A sea of 
                                                 limbs, picked
                            apart 

by unbecomings—​

               When the morning crescents 
the horizon, I find assurance
                after effervescing waters,      

in the stillness:

                                                bone snapped to bone,
                              ligaments seamed with 

               hauntings      and I choke 
them back        I try 
                but they’re hungry.
Tatiana Clark is a writer and moon enthusiast. She studies English/Creative Writing at the University of South Florida. She is the current Managing Editor for Thread Magazine, her school's undergraduate literary and arts journal. Her work appears or is forthcoming in Trouvaille Review, The Shore, Hecate Mag, and elsewhere. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram @tatiianaclark.
image: Neonbrand via Unsplash