Seven of Cups

Slow Birth
by Erin Emily Ann Vance

this is a metaphor for fairies who give birth
to magpie children
with yellow eyes and lichen for ears—

this is a metaphor for women who live on the moor
alone, severe and enchanted
with hymns dripping from their bone spurs—

this is a metaphor for the golden ache of the heath
and the unkempt need
to lick clean the oil-slick feathers of their offspring—

Erin Emily Ann Vance (she/her) is a graduate student in Irish Folklore at University College Dublin. She is the author of five poetry chapbooks, including The Sorceress Who Left Too Soon (Coven Editions), and the novel Advice for Taxidermists and Amateur Beekeepers (Stonehouse Publishing).