Poetry by Kailey Tedesco

i am a castle / i am a bride
 
i am so dangerous 
in my tight 
 
whalebone.
 
water moats my veins
like electric & i am 
 
turning infrared; i am 
smiling so whitely 
 
through your Tesla
radio, all teeth. 
 
every one of you
cries me 
 
so far i might as well
be falling; 
 
all of you 
dress me in 
 
chills of cold finger-
nails & buttoned
 
scolioses. i am 
a stairway of caskets, 
 
torchlit & waiting 
for the largo 
 
of my own thrumming 
hands to pull 
 
at an arcana 
i cannot remember. 

---

Kailey Tedesco is the author of These Ghosts of Mine, Siamese (Dancing Girl Press) and the forthcoming full-length collection, She Used to be on a Milk Carton (April Gloaming Publishing). She is the editor-in-chief of Rag Queen Periodical and a staff writer for Luna Luna Magazine. She also performs with the poetry brothel. Her work has or will appear in Sugar House Review, Prelude, Bellevue Literary Review, and more. For other information, please visit kaileytedesco.com.