Kathryn Merwin
Poetry
Kathryn Merwin’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in journals such as Cutbank, Quiddity, Sugar House Review, Prairie Schooner, and Blackbird. She has read or reviewed for publications such as the Bellingham Review, Poetry Northwest, and The Adroit Journal, and serves as co-editor-in-chief of Milk Journal. She holds an MFA in poetry from Western Washington University and currently lives in the District of Columbia. Connect with her at www.kathrynmerwin.com.
Sucker Punch
There is clear light in the violet hour,
when everything grows purple: crocuses split
by starlight, your amethyst necklace, bright
as a beautiful slit throat. Cobra-faced
lilacs. The memory of a wound
on your arm, blood blooming
into strange flowers. Cobwebs
of capillaries, your sweetest Malbec.
Even the birds are purple here, balancing
on the invisible trapeze of west wind.
This is a skeletal love. The dark fig
between your legs, split
at the soft core. Look at me
across the massacre. Your skin
purples with memory.