excerpt

DAPHNE I

She chose, in a way.
She chose screaming. She chose
to change, to be
shielded from gods. She chose
while running, heart pounding, hands shaking. She chose
to sink into the mud, to let
the bark cover her skin, to let
leaves spring from her fingers. She chose
to shake in the wind and rain,
to shade the earth
against the sun.

The god chose to watch, to take her
for his tree,
make crowns from her
fingertips,
jewels from her skin.
The price, he says
of transformation.

ABOUT THE POET

Mari Ness spent much of her life wandering the world and reading. This, naturally, trained her to do just one thing: write. Her short fiction and poetry have appeared in numerous print and online publications, including Tor.com, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, Fireside, Apex Magazine, Daily Science Fiction, Nightmare,  Strange Horizons, Uncanny, and Fantasy.  Tor.com has featured several of her essay series, including On Fairy Tales, The DisneyRead-Watch (short listed for a Stabby Award) The Pixar Rewatch, and Travels Through Fairyland (a reread/study of all 40 of the original Oz books, plus related material.) Her poetry has been nominated for the Rhysling, Dwarf Stars and Elgin Awards.

She lives in central Florida, with a scraggly rose garden and large trees harboring demented squirrels.

marikness.wordpress.com

about the cover artist

Nicci Mechler (she/her) splits her time between exploring, spinning tales (sometimes yarn), bookbinding, printmaking, and drawing. Her art has appeared in shows around the world and lives in numerous private & museum collections. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with a pack of rescue animals specializing in troublemaking and joy. Current obsessions: witchy poems, embroidery, gaming with friends, and folktales.

Notes

Work in this chapbook first appeared in Bull Spec #7.

OTHER BOOKS

Dancing in Silver Lands (Neon Hemlock Press, 2021)
Resistance and Transformation: On Fairy Tales (Aqueduct Press, 2021)
Through Immortal Shadows Singing (Papaveria Press, 2017)