A History of Falling

A History of Falling
By Avra Margariti

My mother, the goose
liked to flap her wings
and honk tall tales in our kitchen,
cracking eggs into the saucepan.
This is you, she told me, calcium rich,
this is you with your eggshell skin
and yolk-y blood,
so very precious, so very fragile.

Up on the wall, then down on the ground;
whole, then fragmented,
the king’s men and the king’s horses
gathering my pieces to bring back
to my mother goose.
She puts me in the saucepan, hot water cleanse;
she spreads me on our kitchen table, groaning,
Men and beasts don’t know the first thing
about putting children back together.
And as she sings to me and glues me whole again,
I dream about my next great climb,
my next great fall.

* * *

Avra Margariti is a queer Social Work undergrad from Greece. She enjoys storytelling in all its forms and writes about diverse identities and experiences. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Vastarien, Asimov’s, Liminality, Arsenika, and other venues. You can find her on twitter @avramargariti.

Where do you get the ideas for your poems?

My main inspirations include, but are not limited to, fairytales, interesting facts, and historical weirdness. I like reimagining old myths or current events through a speculative lens.