Liane Tyrrel is a visual artist and poet who also works odd jobs to pay the bills. She has been writing a group of poems revolving around a haunted house she grew up in and a spirit named Mary who she suspects is both actual and imagined (because really, what's the difference?) The collection also features ghost animals, twins and a circus tent. Liane's website is https://www.lianetyrrel.com/. She says soda but doesn't really drink it and hopes that does not disqualify her.
LIANE TYRREL
MARY AS A FLOWER
Queen Anne’s Lace
or Lady’s Slipper.
Mary as a tattoo,
as a spider.
Mary as a leopard,
as a field of grasses.
Mary as the grey and blue
hills in the distance
and the mists above them.
Mary as a constellation,
as the space between.
Mary as the earthquake,
as the forest fire and the tree.
As the birds singed in flight.
The abrupt departure,
the wild noise of defiance
as they fly.
Mary as the boards
from the trees
of this house, travelled.
Mary as travelling.
Like burs on the fox
or Mary as the fox.
As hooked spines.
As dried fruit with teeth.