By Death, She Lives

By Death, She Lives
Jenna Vélez
I was born in a blood moon
Coughed up like vampire pearl
The smell of burnt skin
The char of women
Wise beyond their tears
Formed me by mortar and pestle
I emerged in the firelight
We dance and die by
Yet the water ebbs and flows
In a sanguineous sea
Embryonic and embalming
My first cry was an echo
A bubble in the blue
And so will be my last
Everything between is god
The earth and air
To bury and breathe again

Jenna Vélez is an emerging poet and wild woman from suburban Philadelphia. She has been featured or forthcoming in over a dozen literary magazines and journals. Her work sheds light on relationships, identity, trauma, and spiritualities that have made her who she is. Jenna also runs The Northern Bruja's Grimoire column at Pussy Magic Press. She tweets @northernbruja and can be found at jennavelez.weebly.com.