by K.G.Ricci
Sell your soul to the Devil at the crossroads
Take up your pen and sign it. Poison’s my ink.
At the place where three roads cross, at the stake, the wheel, jangling toward
you—what else could you think?— harness, horses, cart. Tell me you feel
the hate of the crowd. Bite of the rope to bind,
iron of your chain. This night, let the moon
ride through rags of cloud. For me, find
a blood-spot heliotrope. And the white bone,
shape into the long flute. Play me home,
I’ll sing you. I will dance you widdershins
until the blood-cock crow. Oh, now, come,
every singer’s a sell-soul, the veil thins,
spirit layered with song. Pay up, pay the fare.
Blood-price at the crossroads. Meet me there.
Jane Wiseman (she/her) is a U.S. writer who splits her time between the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico and very urban south Minneapolis. She holds an undergraduate degree from Duke University, an M.A. from the University of Illinois-Urbana, and a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. Her poetry blog is https://utopiary.wordpress.com. Her poetry has appeared most recently in The Ekphrastic Review, SWWIM Everyday, and NBR (Zoetic Press), among other places.
K.G. Ricci is a self-taught NYC artist who has been creating collages for the past seven years. In that time his work has evolved from the larger 24×48 panels to 7×10 books and most recently to a series of 18×24 collages on cardboard titled Incongruities. His work has been in gallery exhibitions throughout the country, and he has appeared in numerous on-line exhibitions. Many of Ken’s most recent “visual stories” have been featured in several literary magazines. Instagram @kennethricci.