Guest Poem by Rachel Bruce

Rachel Bruce (she/her) is a poet based in South London. She studied English Literature at the University of Warwick and has been writing since she was young. Her work has appeared in The Telegraph, Propel Magazine, Mslexia, Ink Sweat and Tears, The Daily Drunk, and Atrium, among others. She is currently working on her debut pamphlet.

Du Lac

My lover was born under a wet star.
He is not my first, but he is my favourite.
The waters of the lake hold the shape of my body in their silt.
I found him at the water’s edge,
blurring into the shallows like a mirage.
His hands slid over my shoulders
and droplets cascaded down the backs of my legs.
He is softly all-consuming,
peppering fresh scales onto my neck with his lips.
We mix our white and blue together
with wanting tongues.
He tells me roses cry for me,
and I love him freely in the afternoon sun;
we glisten like salmon on a fisher’s rod.
I dive the depths of my goblet in the summer heat –
I am unusually thirsty these days.
He twists me in his warm current.
I am learning to breathe underwater.