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patterns on water - Unsplash photo by Jr Korpa
Photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash

Poetry | November/December 2023

A Mary Sequence

By Danielle McMahon

Mary has a kitchen and it smells of bathtub gin 
Mary is a briny seahorse, sweetly Florida skinned

Patron saint of vespa nest
Patron saint of yew 

Mary with the glassy eyes 
Mary of the few

Mary of the mossy shag / Mary of the stone
Mary, hollow bannister when she is alone

Mary with the rattling breath / Mary of the sea
Mary of the dirt-floor basement, an obscenely tinselled tree

Patron saint of empty cupboard
Patron saint of rot

Mary is completely silent, 
except for when she’s not

Mary has an accordion, Mary has a key
Mary is rare bluebird stapled to a tree

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