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Picture
"Night Vision," by Eddy Roberts.

SCORPION ODE, BY AMANDA AUCHTER


Praise how you carry all your stings
behind you — little arrow
 
of regret, spear in the heart’s red
thrum. You, constellation
 
in my southern sky, night wanderer. Praise
 
the tender places you kiss — 
nape of my neck, earlobes,
 
my left thigh. How each evening
I check under the bed for you, pull
 
back blankets. Once, I found you inside
my pillowcase and could not sleep
 
for weeks. Praise the dreamer
you make of me. I collect my jars
 
of cinnamon and lavender, wait
for you. Praise your shadow
 
strut, how you haunt my darkest
corners. Praise the poison
 
that stirs me silent. O my dusk- 
lurker, my witch finger, praise
 
the venom tail I never see coming.





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Amanda Auchter is the author of The Wishing Tomb, winner of the 2013 PEN Center USA Literary Award for Poetry and the 2012 Perugia Press Book Award, and The Glass Crib, winner of the 2010 Zone 3 Press First Book Award for Poetry. Auchter's recent work appears in The Huffington Post and CNN. She lives in Houston, TX. 

Eddy Roberts is a graphic designer and artist with an interest in mass media, persuasive language, and mythology. His work explores the overlaps and contrasts between these subjects and the problematic nature of contemporary story-telling, particularly as it relates to digital communications. Roberts has experience working with various creative agencies in Texas and Florida. He’s also taught Graphic Communication at The University of Houston and at Ringling College of Art and Design. He currently lives and works in Houston, TX.
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