American Eurydice
never got / a wedding night / got her name / on the invite / then the tombstone / got a white dress
/ got a shroud / flowers in her / hands became / flowers on her grave / some say she / was chased
/ she was running / from that / famous asshole / dead / and running / and hungry / she got sick /
or she fell down / on the highway / called out / O Persephone / flowers and flame / goddess of
the diner / stand by me / Persephone / took pity / took her hands and / showed her / the faithless
twilight / of the American dream
/ got a shroud / flowers in her / hands became / flowers on her grave / some say she / was chased
/ she was running / from that / famous asshole / dead / and running / and hungry / she got sick /
or she fell down / on the highway / called out / O Persephone / flowers and flame / goddess of
the diner / stand by me / Persephone / took pity / took her hands and / showed her / the faithless
twilight / of the American dream
This is a remix poem.
Source: McGuire, Seanan; The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, pgs. 207 & 208.
things the body never forgets
the green silk gown (I miss that dress)
the wrong side of town (a minute to midnight—the spell
would never end)
my mother was trash and so was I (puberty brought me
the breasts)
sweeping floors (splinters in my fingers)
the benefits of being dead (at least I didn’t grow up)
a shitty little house in Michigan (it isn’t even there
anymore)
a man of my own to hit me (the way my father used to
hit my mother)
until I snap and burn the place down (one potential
escape)
girls like me don’t get happy endings (the sharp shock
of glass slicing flesh)
the wrong side of town (a minute to midnight—the spell
would never end)
my mother was trash and so was I (puberty brought me
the breasts)
sweeping floors (splinters in my fingers)
the benefits of being dead (at least I didn’t grow up)
a shitty little house in Michigan (it isn’t even there
anymore)
a man of my own to hit me (the way my father used to
hit my mother)
until I snap and burn the place down (one potential
escape)
girls like me don’t get happy endings (the sharp shock
of glass slicing flesh)
This is a remix poem.
Source: McGuire, Seanan; The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, pg. 159.
Not all monsters are strangers.
When they find her lovely body they feel a pang
of regret. But they say she should have known
the dangers of hitchhiking. A girl is a gun, they
say. A teenage runaway is a knife. A magnet
for cock and trouble. So easy to hurt. Now
she’s just a dead junkie by the side of the
road. Never even made it out of town.
of regret. But they say she should have known
the dangers of hitchhiking. A girl is a gun, they
say. A teenage runaway is a knife. A magnet
for cock and trouble. So easy to hurt. Now
she’s just a dead junkie by the side of the
road. Never even made it out of town.
This is a remix poem.
Source: McGuire, Seanan; The Girl in the Green Silk Gown, pg. 94.
Siren County
a Halloween family
in a swamp. The daughter
drowned.
hear the ghost girl
say “Help me, Mommy. I can’t get out!”
in a swamp. The daughter
drowned.
hear the ghost girl
say “Help me, Mommy. I can’t get out!”
This is an erasure poem.
Source: Chad Lewis - The Siren Bridge.
Jessie Lynn McMains is a poet, writer, and publisher. They were the 2015-2017 Poet Laureate of Racine, WI, and currently write a reoccuring column for Pussy Magic. They are the author of multiple chapbooks, most recently The Girl With The Most Cake and forget the fuck away from me. You can find their personal website at recklesschants.net, or follow them on Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram @rustbeltjessie