written by Siobhán McLaughlin. Siobhan (she/her) is a poet and creative writing facilitator from Co. Donegal in Ireland, as well as an UCD Arts Alumni. Her poems have appeared previously in The Honest Ulsterman, The Ekphrastic Review, Drawn to the Light Press, The Waxed Lemon, Bealtaine Magazine, The Poetry Village and more. Twitter: @siobhan347
Scorpio mood like a black night
in November. And you, velvet demeanour,
spinning moons in your palms,
eyes grey and vague as smoke.
Intelligence stealthy and shining, sword
in a stone. Black ink tattooed on your future,
runes and ley lines and indecipherable script.
I wanted to save you, couldn’t look away.
Before the prey is struck, it is mesmerised, held;
still waters, churning and purging of thoughts.
This is what I am, you said, bleeding black tears.
Dangerous, exotic, esoteric. Nothing stings
like inverted love, venom seeping into the heart.
Dulling, blackening, until there’s no feeling
but pain, a charred memory,
the exoskeleton of a dream.
Image: Untitled 4 by Marco Acerbi
Marco (he/him) is an 18 year old psychology undergraduate at UCD. As an artist, he uses ink and colours to translate feelings that our words cannot reach. In his works, Marco loves combining philosophical and literary reflections with metaphors about identity.
