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***
We went to witch school, you and I,
hidden in the outback of Australia–
which witch school,
the one shifting between realms
of new times and wild climes,
the one with the potions plot
and spellcaster squad,
the school for the demon kids
who drew fickle fire from the air.
The one for the weirdos with wings
abandoned by their mothers,
the ones with scales to stretch instead of skin to scour,
the ones who came from realms of ice
or realms of fire.
But we were neither demon nor weirdo nor clevermen,
we were maidens of fifty
raised on stories
where the knight kills the dragon
and saves the damsel
and they live happily ever after.
We left home and our truck broke down
and the dragons got us,
the demonkind,
and we took that rescue from the scorching desert
in the talons of a dragon
like news that we’d been captured.
Waited years
in derelict dorms
for a boy
to save us.
And it’s funny
I don’t recall,
if it was you
or I
who first
gave up
on a shiny knight
and noble steed,
and determined to save herself.
I don’t recall,
if it was you
or I
who joined the demons first
(my heart, my heart
the tyrant;
avenge me of my enemies,
join them to destroy them,
join them cuz you love them).
Maybe they put a spell on us overnight
and we both fell
fast
together,
maybe we went
insane from the waiting,
but any way it happened
I can still recite
the mantra
that took over my mind,
“Join them cuz you like them
join them for the honor
join them for the flames
join them for the traitors
join them, live for eons,
join them just to live
join them, you,
join them
damsels of despair
sisterhood of spite
witches in the desert
hunters of the knight.”
Jordyn Saelor 