Elizabeth Kate Switaj
Since completing her MFA at New College of California in 2004, Elizabeth Kate Switaj has published Magdalene & the Mermaids (Paper Kite Press), Shanghai (Gold Wake Press), and The Broken Sanctuary: Nature Poems (Ypolita Press). She is currently an intern for Irish Pages and a doctoral candidate at Queen’s University Belfast. Visit Elizabeth’s website.
“At the heart of this comprehensive collection lies the Biblical character of Mary Magdalene whose presence is prominent in many of the poems and who haunts those which are, ostensibly, departures from the subject matter that dominates. However, departure and digression are not the hallmarks of this work and each piece of writing represents a different incursion into the topic from angles and perspectives that are startling, original and engaging. By adopting an overarching motif, the author is able to align more personal topics and themes with the main focus, at times appearing to move into territory not evidently covered by the title but always providing the vital connection somewhere in this sequence of compositions.”
– Martyn James Colebrook
Meliae
No one writes
biographies of average mermaids
You know our lives
by our exceptions
tails sliced to legs
by loss of voice or cloak no– skin
You know us– foolish & afraid
choosing cold ocean lovelies
over warm-haired arms
keep their damp inside
at least for most of life
you think
but would not carry
these creatures born with scales
that pinch skin between them
and smell of other fish
We’ve loved
Soft Coral Siren
I didn’t feel when you cut out my spine
I’d been throwing up all night
couldn’t even smell the rust
until you told me hold your hand
or make you leave
and I just rolled in setting stains, ecru sheets
Creatures bendable as me only safe in sea
& still devoured Every night
I rise to breathe
& hear you
drop fire on my vertebrae
You do not hear me sing you
I do not smell singed bone
or whatever sort of tear you give
to keep my nerves encased in . . .
Magdalene’s Prayer
dye my hair red with wine
dye my robe red with wine
dye my flesh red with wine
& say I sinned of it
dye my lips red with wine
dye my name red with wine
dye my nails red with wine
& forget these hands lifted
your legs to let you breathe
as you died nails through your wrists
from Magdalene & the Mermaids (Paper Kite Press, 2009)
Order Magdalene & the Mermaids.
Visit Paper Kite Press’s website.
Visit Elizabeth’s website.
Visit Irish Pages.
Peony Moon 