Skeleton Keys by Vanessa Maderer

My spine spirals deep

Down my back as a banister 

Leading to all the compartments 

Beneath my chest, of which just one 

Is locked impenetrable at the centre 

Of my breast.

A misshapen beating beast resides there,

Thrumming an insidious beat and humming of 

Skeleton keys. Is this calcified foundation 

Too brittle for the forthcoming hurricane

Just a fortnight away? Witch hazel and sage stained

Irises stand at command, peering through the lens

Of my fortress’ watchtower 

For any semblance of threat – even from those

Who trespass under the guise 

Of innocent locksmiths. 

By Kristin Garth

Kristin Garth is a poet from Pensacola, Florida. Her sonnets and stories have appeared in Glass, Five:2:One, Cheap Pop, X-R-A-Y Lit, Rhythm & Bones Lit, TERSE. Journal, Isacoustic*, Mojave Heart Review, SWWIM Miami, Feminine Collective, A Restricted View From Under The Hedge, Barren Magazine, Dark Marrow, Rag Queen Periodical, Sidereal Magazine, Work To A Calm Zine, Fly On The Wall Poetry, Collective Unrest, Pulp Poets Press, Tiny Flames Press, Bone & Ink Press, Wyrd & Wyse, Constellate Journal, Awkward Mermaid, The Ginger Collect, Pussy Magic, The Pangolin Review, Rabid Oak, Burning House Press, Rose Quartz Journal, Bone & Ink Press, Cauldron Anthology, Porridge Magazine, Luna Luna, Quail Bell Magazine, Neologism Poetry Journal, Speculative 66, The Blue Pages, Pink Litter, The Mystic Blue Review, Rise Up Review, Lonesome October Lit, Peculiars Magazine, Cabinet of Heed, Deracine Magazine, Tepid Autumn, Rising Phoenix Review, Rumblefish Press, Murmur Journal, Foxglove Journal, Water Soup Press, Here Comes Everyone: The Brutal Issue Spider Mirror Journal, The New Southern Fugitives, The Cerurove, Horny Poetry Review, Wanton Fuckery, Three Drops From A Cauldron, Ghost City Review, 8 Poems Journal, The Sophomore, Picaroon Poetry, Soft Cartel, Chantarelle's Notebook, Former Cactus, Drunk Monkeys, Midnight Lane Boutique, Infernal Ink, Horror Tree, Anti-Heroin Chic, Quail Bell Magazine , Mookychick, Infernal Ink, Occulum , Digging Through the Fat and No Other Tribute: Erotic Tales of Women in Submission (an anthology)

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