They’re striped in rings of pink, black, and yellow, but they’ve also got wings and ruffled gills and hideous faces, and when they hiss, green slime covers the walls, so I shut the door and call the Fish and Wildlife Department.
Hybrid poem by Cecilia Kennedy
Art by Featured Artist Erica Peebus
Strange Love
Coral snakes live in my attic, precisely two of them. I found them the other day, and I’m not sure they’re actually coral snakes. They’re striped in rings of pink, black, and yellow, but they’ve also got wings and ruffled gills and hideous faces, and when they hiss, green slime covers the walls, so I shut the door and call the Fish and Wildlife Department. They tell me they don’t have time to investigate because of too many bears in the neighborhood. And as long as they don’t look injured, and they’re not running loose in the house, I should just keep them confined to the attic, with the window open, and wait for them to escape on their own.
I’ve fashioned a hole through which I can see them, but they look as if they won’t escape, and they’re growing bigger each day—and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think they were gazing lovingly into each other’s eyes. They draw their grotesque faces near to each other. Sometimes, I see them entwined, and there’s no reason at all for them to escape through the window. They have all they need as their monstrous affair unfolds.
I think of escaping, but I’ve been priced out of the market. This is the place I can afford—the place where I need to stay, and when I hear the loud, rhythmic thumping above my head at night, cracks splintering the plaster in the ceiling, I just close my eyes and imagine it’s thunder tapering off into a gentle rain.
About the Author
Cecilia Kennedy (she/her) is a writer who taught English and Spanish in Ohio for 20 years before moving to Washington state with her family. Since 2017, she has published stories in international literary magazines and anthologies. Her work has appeared in Tiny Frights, Maudlin House, Tiny Molecules, Meadowlark Review, Vast Chasm Literary Magazine, Kandisha Press, Ghost Orchid Press, and others. You can follow her on Twitter (@ckennedyhola). Instagram: ceciliakennedy2349
About the Artist
Erica Peebus (b.1982) recently moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana from Portland, Oregon where she received her BFA with an emphasis in painting in 2013 from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. Erica’s acrylic paintings can be described as both dark and whimsical. Employing a strong illustrative quality, she mixes realism with graphic details. Her works often represent plants, animals, bones, and the human figure exposing her fascination with life and death as well as her love for the natural and super natural world. Her work is heavily influenced by religious symbolism, renaissance paintings, mythology, folklore, and surrealism.
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