top of page

Piglet Squid

Poetry

Pushcart Nominee 2023

Image by Matt Hardy

Squids can communicate differently

on each side of their bodies, one side fight-

speckled, violent sparks. One side love- secret

gentle pulses. It's at the aquarium

I learn my chronic illness makes me a

squid, one side healthy, one side sick. The left

side, always the left. When my skin speckles

hot red, my eye twitches, movement becomes

slow motion. Change my shape, camouflage to

pretend nothing's wrong. Look, if you hold still

you can just see. Secretly, the juicy,

jelly soft parts, all of me, wants to be

scooped up and held, bathed in your tenderness.

Love is said to be bright, luminescent.

Christa Fairbrother, MA, is a Florida-based writer living with chronic illnesses. She’s the author of the award-winning, Water Yoga (Singing Dragon, 2022). Her poetry has appeared in DMQ Review, Red Rose Thorns, and Unbroken among others. Upcoming work will appear in: Réapparition Journal,and Sunlight Press. Connect with her: www.christafairbrotherwrites.com.

bottom of page