Offerings to Save the World by Mahaila Smith

September 22, 2023
Poem title: Offerings to Save the World Poet name: Mahaila Smith Poem: After Christi Belcourt I stand on the mountains of strawberry fields that lace my muscles with veins of red and gold water and sun and earth. I stand at the edge of an oceanic ravine. Even at the lowest depths, marine animals find a reason to put the lights on. I swim to the sun-shaped hole in outer-space and peer over the edge at the mirrored universe. The parallel timeline attracts prayers and ghosts. I let my makeup compact idolize through the black window. I let my weathervane heart navigate. End of poem. Credits and bio: Copyright © Mahaila Smith Previously published as Winner of the July 2022 Arc Award of Awesomeness, Arc Poetry. Mahaila Smith (any pronouns) is a young femme writer, living and working on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe in Ottawa, Ontario. They are one of the co-editors for The Sprawl Mag. They like learning theory and writing speculative poetry. Their debut chapbook, Claw Machine, was published by Anstruther Press in 2020.