ISSUE VI

River Snowdrop

Male Anglerfish Loses His Lover

the year i lost him was a normal one:

it began with any number. there’d been

a summer: good. there’d been many

months in between. i waited for him to

come clean – a weekday – i anticipated

pain. turns out some rooms are a portal

to purgatory and wow had he trapped

me in it now had he got me great. i ate

oven meals more than i’d have liked.

smoked a cigarette and didn’t even want

it. then; his treatment changed. the

scenery lovely bliss bad burned brumal. he

is a human. i must tell myself this. don’t

give back the gift, my mother would say.

would she? so long ago now since i’ve

known a true thing about that. his act

travelled, got on the road, and i vibrated

daily hoping he could return. unlatched,

i drifted off into the world, leaving my

lover to his meditations and to his grief

River Snowdrop (they/them) is a queer trans poet from Manchester, UK. Their work has been previously published in Free Verse Revolution, Querencia Press, fifth wheel press, ouch! collective and more. They are a 2023 winner of the Mulberry Literary Fresh Voices Award. You can find River on Instagram/X/Bluesky @riversnowdrop.