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Madeleine Corley

Subtext

 
I wanted you
when I received
Hi   hello    have you been                                                 
veining migraines in my
head like ice between side-
walks in the winter      expanding
this act called me
writing lately?                                                                    
was just that     a play   I disguised
with fervent type     my hyper-
ventilating eyes      darts thrown
hastily from clenched fist
You’re someone who I know                                           
from peonies   from city drives
at dusk        from new shoes       
dawned when my dark got too
thick and my soles too sodden
will                                                                                      
to
offer                                                                                    
back what I dug up     the timber
I logged and froze
with what I believed was
 genuine                                                                              
love            I know I keep pontificating
dirt because I am  leaking     the mud
grouts my gums      these brimstone
fires I spew
critique and                                                                       
contrarian       I was planted among
undergrowth     forgetting this
vibrant was nothing before hollowed
ideas that                                                                           
want was all I could
survive off of      give
a seed the taunt of sap and she will
allow                                                                                  
stem
growth                                                                               
in that rime of morning
dew       there is truth
in some soil
and thought                                                                      
I am windswept and
cannot recall what I left under
your fingernails     what shade of
soot I buried in the crook of
your elbow
as opposed to                                                                   
the longing that
comes with autumn’s sleep       I drove
myself leafless after hope      and  if I
thaw to empty forgiveness      and I hear
you spout
it’s good or it’s bad                                                         
I will pretend I am sleeping      but
if you knock and slough
your  icicle teeth      I might unfurl
in groves
and for                                                                              
once        I admit
that                                                                                   
I am wanting     you
like
frostbite
I value you                                                                       

Biography

Picture
​Madeleine Corley (she/her) is a poet by internal monologue and loves writing in confinement. She calls Ohio and Georgia and California and Ireland home. Her work has been / will be featured in Moonchild Magazine, Penteract Press, Okay Donkey, and others. She currently serves as Barren Magazine's Poetry Editor. You can find her on Twitter @madelinksi, on Instagram @wrotemadeleine, or on her website wrotemadeleine.com. 
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    • Issue 27
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    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
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