"Reverse" by Julia Forrest
Catoptromancy by Katherine Fallon
No character development, so far as I recall:
just Mary, just Bloody, who, never having been seen,
must have been so different to each of us girls,
too busy screaming to compare notes. To me, she was
striped in blood like she’d been gotten by a vicious
crown of thorns. We conjured the specter
to show us the faces of our future husbands, or to tell
our fortunes, or sometimes, just because we were made
dizzy by our own collective beauty in the mirror
at which we gaped by flashlight: groomed, adequately
fed, so much horsey potential among us. It wouldn’t
have worked alone, took a tight bouquet of our faces
in exchange for hers. Many women still refuse
a light in the night, and are afraid of mirrors. Historically,
I have not been one of them but last night, I froze--
sensing someone, wanting company,
it didn’t matter if any light came on anywhere, ever
again: there was, simply, nothing to see.
just Mary, just Bloody, who, never having been seen,
must have been so different to each of us girls,
too busy screaming to compare notes. To me, she was
striped in blood like she’d been gotten by a vicious
crown of thorns. We conjured the specter
to show us the faces of our future husbands, or to tell
our fortunes, or sometimes, just because we were made
dizzy by our own collective beauty in the mirror
at which we gaped by flashlight: groomed, adequately
fed, so much horsey potential among us. It wouldn’t
have worked alone, took a tight bouquet of our faces
in exchange for hers. Many women still refuse
a light in the night, and are afraid of mirrors. Historically,
I have not been one of them but last night, I froze--
sensing someone, wanting company,
it didn’t matter if any light came on anywhere, ever
again: there was, simply, nothing to see.
Katherine Fallon received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Meridian, Passages North, Permafrost, Colorado Review, Empty Mirror, and Foundry, among others. Her chapbook, The Toothmakers' Daughters, is available through Finishing Line Press. She teaches in the Department of Writing & Linguistics at Georgia Southern University, and shares domestic square footage with two cats and her favorite human, who helps her zip her dresses.
Julia Forrest is a Brooklyn based artist. She works strictly in film and prints in a darkroom she built within her apartment. Her own art has always been her top priority in life and in this digital world, she will continue to work with old processing. Anything can simply be done in photoshop, she prefers to take the camera, a tool of showing reality, and experiment with what she can do in front of the lens. Julia is currently working as a teaching artist at the Brooklyn Museum, Medgar Evers College, USDAN Art Center and Lehigh University. As an instructor, she thinks it is important to understand that a person can constantly stretch and push the boundaries of their ideas with whatever medium of art they choose. Her goal is for her audience to not only enjoy learning about photography, but to see the world in an entirely new way and continue to develop a future interest in the arts. You can find her at her WEBSITE and on instagram: @Juliajuliaajuliaa
