My lover killed me
As lovers are wont to do
And buried me beneath the lilies I paid for, beside other regrets
I’ve become close to a few of them
We spent years coating our rotten bodies with our lover’s memory
But—and I mean this disrespectfully
No longer.

Beatrice Winifred Iker is a Rhysling Award-nominated poet and author whose work can/will be found in FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Anathema Magazine, Nightmare Magazine, and others. Beatrice is a Voodoonauts Fellowship alum and co-host on the Afronauts Podcast with fellow Black speculative fiction authors. You can find Beatrice online at beatriceiker.com or on Instagram @BeatriceWinifredIker.
