Nymphs
By C. M. Chadwick
frozen in row
but then crackle skin
peel of giggles
and slip off slip slop slip shod
sometime, turns out, turned out
one can breathe
outside the abecedarium
abracadabra a death but no body
glimpse them in old letters
mouldering into paper mush
returning to tree
feel the cold where they have been
tucked away crying softly
hard round globules of amber
rolling down a roman nose
unlucky insects fossilized inside
medusa was once
a lovely creature
echo was once
a lovely creature
it is hard to tell them
apart all those creatures
all that loveliness