Mahaila Smith (any pronouns) is the co-editor of the speculative magazine The Sprawl Mag. Their debut chapbook, Claw Machine, was published by Anstruther Press in 2020.
“‘We sit together, the days of myselves’ is inspired by the character Molly in William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer (1984). Molly is a survivor of trafficking and being raped. It was important for me to write in Molly’s perspective (only a minor part of the novel) because it is, unfortunately, common for femme-identifying people to experience harm. Her defence mechanism, to armour herself and withdraw from others, resonates with me. Her self-protection is a form of resistance and an expression of her agency and courage after experiencing the theft of her body and memories.”
“‘Bureaucratic’ was written while someone read from John Ashbery’s book-length poem Flow Chart (1991), from which I borrowed some words. I wanted to highlight the theme of the grief caused by bureaucratic systems in Ashbery’s poem.”
Spinning pretend gravity, sink down in the peat bog behind my cheekbones,
My sky is your floor, is your sky, shared with all.
I got to know time, when to make a run for it.
I hurt my leg before, by the door.
A mnemonic click of medicated patches strokes my hair, my face.
I am aware in layers and objects I have cared for.
Hard surfaces center myself.
If my eyes are mirrors, and collect the images of people
for a moment that lasts, why perform vulnerability?
I become a cyborg between our encounters.
I slink away in my own sexuality.
Admission requirements are stingy to go to the forest.
Civilization has drawn hoops in the air.
Tornadoes suck up evidence of constitutional rights,
Memorandums of Understanding sit unsigned in peat bogs.
Solariums accept sacrifices on behalf of the sun.
Conflicts of interest are sorted by preschoolers.
Giraffe painkillers are issued at the rate of one per completed grad application.
Draft horses deliver manuscripts to literary agents.
Waiting rooms wait to be constructed.
