Cauldron Anthology Issue 3: Year 1 Collection Cauldron Anthology Year One Issue FINAL 1.17.18 | Page 52
Handle Me with Care
Elisabeth Horan
I am giving in
Here are the monsters in the bushes
Here are the murderers in the closet
I fall at your feet -
I wash your soles
I trust that you are my god
Who protects my heart
who shields my eyes
from the most gruesome
happenings at dawn.
When you find my body parts
put them in this bag -
Label it: Liz’s legs and female eggs;
savory meat, pickled brains
Don’t let them steal it from you
whatever you do
Don’t let them eat of my
Corpse - they had their fill when I was
alive, and I gift to you what’s left.
I know you will embalm with care
these silver tusks
these ribs and femurs
Run lanolin gently into my skin
keep out rot and make water tight -
Be my anchor, be my captain -
I’ve no pretense of self preservation
I can’t even swim.
Here are my demons