This selection, chosen by guest editor nat raum, is from A Few Mythic Paths by Mari Ness (Porkbelly Press, 2024).
CYPRESS
These are woods with no clear paths,
only standing water between the trees,
hiding the heavy muds. These are woods
where insects scream, and black beasts wait
beneath the heavy leaves, their jaws
ready to seize a foot or hand.
These are woods where the lost
cannot soon be found.
These are woods where herons rest
and suddenly rise between the trees
on slow and silent wings. These are woods
where bright orchids spring
from corners dank with mud. These are woods
where one can hide. That catch the wind.
where silence
can be found.
Mari Ness lives in central Florida, and has sometimes been spotted talking to live oak trees. Other work appears in multiple zines and anthologies, including Reactor, Clarkesworld, Uncanny, LIghtspeed, Nightmare, Nature Futures, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Baffling, Strange Horizons and Haven Spec. Mari has also been a finalist for the Hugo and Canopus Awards, and won the 2021 Outwrite Fiction Award.
nat raum (b. 1996) is a queer disabled artist, writer, and editor based on unceded Piscataway and Susquehannock land in Baltimore. They hold an MFA from the University of Baltimore and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Past and upcoming publishers of their work include Poet Lore, beestung, Baltimore Beat, Split Lip Magazine, BRUISER, and others. Find them online at natraum.com.
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