Poetry Pause x Augur: Lynne Sargent – Beauty, Sleeping

Poem name: Beauty, Sleeping Poem author: Lynne Sargent Poem: Your mother-in-law eats you, chews you out for breakfast as though it was you who stole her son, and his virtue, though you were unconscious at the time. This is a story she has folded into her bones. She is not the first to play at owning her child’s sex. At dinner she puts you in the pot-- all meat, forgetting you are a vegetarian. Still, you try: You make her grandchildren, let them, and him, suckle you, keep them all from screaming. You trim the hedges to her specifications, and do not let the years, or shelves, gather dust. You keep his improprieties as concealed as your wrinkles. But she still asks after your weariness, suggests you get more sleep. End of poem. Published in Augur Magazine, Issue 2.2., 2019 Lynne Sargent Bio: Lynne Sargent is a writer, aerialist, and philosophy Ph.D student currently studying at the University of Waterloo. Their work has appeared in venues such as Strange Horizons, Augur Magazine, and Plenitude, among others. They are also a Rhysling and Aurora Award nominated poet. If you want to find out more, you can reach out to them on Twitter @SamLynneS, or find a complete bibliography of their works at scribbledshadows.wordpress.com

About Augur: Augur is a literary magazine that believes we can better engage with our pasts, presents, and futures through stories that explore what-ifs and could-bes. We are excited by writing that is difficult to classify—whether speculative, surreal, or slightly strange. We’re interested in realist pieces that verge on the dreamlike; speculative stories that are almost realist; and, on top of that, any form of literary fantasy/science fiction/speculative fiction. Augur makes room for writing from uncommon perspectives, and brings together the often disparate realms of literary and genre fiction. Our goal is to publish at least 75% Canadian and Indigenous content, offering new opportunities to the rich communities of speculative fiction writers in the North. And, more importantly, we’re committed to featuring intersectional narratives as represented by characters, storytelling, and, in particular, author representation. We want the kind of liminal that pulls voices together, and honours difference as an integral part of our literary canon.

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