Five Poems – Lydia Havens

Advice on the First Sacrifice 

Kiss the boys with a hemlock mouth; 
do not wipe the froth off their lips as
they sink away. Touch their choking
the way you would touch your first-
born. Let them mistake you for garden,
for valley, something harmless. 

Go for the loud ones, girl. Go for the boys
who wear your friends’ dignities around
their throats like luck. Show them
stone, show them karma. Be the asp, 
be the gas oven. Suck the ego out
of their cheeks, and turn it rogue. 

After, don’t leave a trace of yourself, 
because this is how we live. Call it 
natural selection, or call it survival. 
The rest of the world will tell you that 
sacrilege flows through your veins, but
we will see it as hallelujah. They will
name your Heretic or Harlot, but we
will name you Magic. You, you are
magic, girl. But only if you want
to be.