Taurean Skybird
The saccharine sport of undeath is marked on the eldest daughter’s upper lip, it tastes of the pumpkin flesh of October Saturdays.
She stares at purple rings behind her eyes, the haloed heads of yesterdays’ children bowing before the sun, sinking further still.
Erratic orbiting of irate auras bleed into her forgiving irises, she follows shadows with the gentle severity found only in hand-sewn lace or the veins of leaves.
She rejects the pressure, the fear that idles silently like canines resting on the carotid. She understands the weight.
The Taurean skybird flies out of spite. Out of love.
Lili Gourley graduated from SUNY Geneseo in 2024 with a Bachelor’s in creative writing. She served as a managing editor on the Gandy Dancer staff for issues 12.1 and 12.2. She considers it the best decision of her college career. As a published poet, being on both sides of the publishing table was a great privilege. Not only an incredible experience, it also led to her current job as a submissions manager and secondary editor for Trio House Press