Content warning: this poem contains imagery of body horror.

‘Andromeda’ – Rosie Carron

They dress me in white,

Bride-like, pure, virginal,

Braid my hair with lilies.

I kiss my mother’s cheek,

Taste salt.

Soon, I will be devoured,

Swallowed whole by the king of the sea,

My blood will stain the foam

Like bedsheets.

He will pick my bones from his teeth.

There will be nothing left.

He rises from the water like a fish,

Peels back scaled eyelids,

Smiles.

His teeth are endless,

Mouths within mouths.

A flash of steel.

Head rolls from his neck,

Still smiling,

Lands at my feet,

Trailing a ribbon of red.

A man stands drenched,

Licks the blood from his lips,

Lifts the king’s head by the hair,

Turns to my father, says,

“for her.”

My dowry.

A head for my hand

To hang from his belt,

Severed at the wrist.

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