Gathered: summer afternoon self-destruct

Gathered is the corner of The Salon where we feature poetry, personal essays, & other creative writing

A poem by Madeline W.

summer afternoon self-destruct 

after maya deren’s meshes of the afternoon 

blackberry juice running through linoleum riverbed

and a body that still felt truthful 

softened again, water with clay

to have this back 

have it feel like mine again

its sanctity returned

i shouldn’t reach 

but it’s all falling on us now

i stand up and there are the stars and on a head

i watch

still turning to see if the vertigo subsided 

clattering in a sink 

all of this 

fingertips and wrists, weak knees, wavering mind 

almost mine

fragment hands pouring every direction from the dark all bruised and tender

a glance at the revealed stained body would have mother weeping like 9 years ago lost 

in forestry and flashing light

chosen from the garden soil paeonia

i’m being pulled

thread limbs and no more secrecy

maybe hearts should be collared and kept in a cage

maybe just this one

and the wild dog it has proven itself to be

i’ve betrayed myself in many ways given myself 

up

to

absence from the exhaustion of being the only one with the will to defend this stoned corroded body 

and to kneel and beg

each time shattered mirror perspective lashes out and makes me bleed

bitter red wine pouring from lips

no

it’s preservation of purpose now

a woman is a reflection in a polished knife 

she is the million pieces of glass she left scattered on the kitchen floor

---

Madeline was born and raised in Idaho as a dancer and a student of memory. Growing up among fruit and evergreen trees, lakes, and deep green meadows, her art is created to embrace nature and lived experience — not as things to be evaluated or judged but as emotions to be felt and deeply valued. 

photo by Jessie Carlton Photography