Ten Step Tulpamancy

To begin, carry trauma like an amulet. Kiss its three sharp
corners. Shine its ugly armor.

Recall the chalk clouds. Recall the scent of symbols scratched
deep on motel walls. Remember rising damp, the face in the
mildew that told you do not be afraid.

On the unclean bedspread, summon your sixteenth birthday.
Snuff the candles, ask for time re-written. Ask for the
package left unopened on your dresser. Wish perfected
childhood. Wish unbroken skin.

To make a Tulpa, carry books to bed. Lie on a lumpy
mattress & dictate your woes to furniture. Lie & map
imaginary houses. Map topography of bodies. Think: how will
his paper limbs assemble into flesh? How will it feel with one half of the
bed depressed?

To make a Tulpa, practice self-negation. Hollow your head
and light the neon Vacancy.

Consider the shape of your hand as you teach yourself falling.
Curl two fingers: beckon closer.

Crown yourself with polished trauma. Balance amulet
between your eyes & watch the dark soak through the
floorboard cracks.

Kiss residue from motel's plaster split. Tongue holes in sacred
symbols. Kiss his three sharp corners.

Unopen package. Hold self inside imagined houses. Wait for
tenants. Wait for occupation.

Break your skin on faith and mean it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kia Alice Groom is a British born, Australian raised writer & occultist currently living in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she received an MFA in Poetry from the University of New Orleans in 2015. Currently, she works as a full-time tarot reader and intuitive healer, and divides the rest of her time between her therapist, her cats, and wherever she goes when she falls asleep. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including Westerly, Overland, and the Hunter Anthology of Contemporary Australian Feminist Poetry. You can find her online at www.kiagroom.com and @whodreamedit on other platforms.

ABOUT THE COVER ARTIST

Born in 1979 into Appalachian impoverishment, Mary Chiaramonte spent her youth helping her family survive from their farm and land in an isolated area. She had no television or other modern distractions, and was encouraged to entertain herself with objects in nature. Left with the workings of her imagination and observations of the world around her, she translated her understanding into paintings. 

Chiaramonte received her Master of Fine Arts degree in painting and art history from Radford University, graduating in 2010 Summa Cum Laude and was awarded the university’s best graduate thesis. Her paintings have been exhibited at Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art, Wisconsin, Taubman Museum of Art, Virginia, RJD Gallery, New York, and Abend Gallery, Colorado. Chiaramonte has been awarded by the Portrait Society of America (2018, 2016) and the International ARC Salon competition (2018). Her paintings have been published by American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur, American Artist Magazine and PoetsArtists. Chiaramonte lives and works in Richmond, Virginia.

NOTES

Work in this chapbook originally appeared in Birdfeast, Dream Pop Press, and Cordite Poetry Review.

Would you like a signed copy? You can purchase directly from the author via celestemott.com.

REVIEWS & INTERVIEWS

A review by Michelle Embree via Youtube.