Matins
We are children
in misfortune,
and speechless fears,
and clenched anxiety
unnameable.
The counter-spell is
arms warm as sleep,
embracing dreams,
the whitened, silent edge
with bodies pressed
and lips caught
motionless
in half
a kiss.
The glow of honey
radiance, the
mutual pulse,
and bread, coffee, watermelon,
and bread, and coffee, and watermelon.
A. W. Earl is a writer and storyteller whose work is concerned with gender, deviant bodies, and folklore. They studied English Literature and Creative writing at the University of East Anglia, and have performed their own work and traditional folktales across the UK. Among other venues, their poetry has been published by The Selkie, Renard Press, and Salò Press, while their non-fiction has appeared in Lighthouse Journal and a collection by Watkins Press. Their debut novel was published in 2018.