by Lane Vineyard
I have gazed into the eyes
of the taxidermy fox
and found its warped reflection of my own
more fitting.
its gossamer phantoms orbit
sister moons of anthracite coal;
once teeming with life, now entombed within
calcified dew.
I’ve long fled mother Appalachia
yet still anticipate
the city’s rancid pavement pools to exhale her
ritualistic chants
in the tongue of eldritch gods:
static in damp air;
a doe devours her young; mauve chiffon rots on
bull thistle.
Lane Vineyard
lane vineyard is a writer and visual artist who originally hails from the rolling hills of Appalachia. much of their writing employs vivid imagery and visceral invocations of the past, aiming to reckon with the prismatic nature of the queer experience, body politics, queer temporalities and Appalachia as an identity. lane currently resides in Brooklyn while they pursue their MFA in Digital Arts at Hunter College.
Artist: Leonhard Kätzel
Leave a Reply