salt apples by Laura Theis (Lucent Dreaming Issue 7)

unable to sleep
amid all the salt and the racket
(sleep belongs to the dead)
even the rose-coloured apples
are carnival-starved
(sadness is a prerequisite for
dancing) like grape-fuelled
lightning (like winter
may wait)

nothing perishes nothing persists the ceiling
swirls in a red maze
I eat and hold hands over my billowing dress
couples slouch off together
pale little ones and big ones in heavy colours
a rasping chill of voices that circle and dive
(thank you for smashing it—and thank me too!)

during my levity moths and moments die and slink away
no one speaks the unbreakable word
no

while I say nothing
morning lights itself

Laura Theis grew up in a place in Germany where each street bears the name of a mythical creature and now lives in Oxford with her little demon dog. Writing in her second language, she gained a Distinction in the Mst Creative Writing at Oxford University. Her writing has been published in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Canada and the US, and appears in many different places such Strange Horizons, Rise Up Review, The London Reader, Abyss&Apex and Mslexia. Laura has won the AM Heath Prize as well as the Hammond House International Literary Award for Poetry, and was shortlisted for the Yeovil Prize, the Live Canon International Poetry Award, the Frome Festival Short Story Competition, the Blue Nib Chapbook Contest and the Oxford Brookes Poetry Prize amongst others.
@wodehouse_and_i | lauratheis.weebly.com

Browse issue 7 in full.

Lucent Dreaming is an independent creative writing magazine publishing beautiful, imaginative and surreal short stories, poetry and artwork from emerging authors and artists worldwide. Our aim is to encourage creativity and to help writers reach publication! Subscribe to Lucent Dreaming now, support us on Patreon and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.