Leannán Sídhe

By Ruby Rodriguez

 

The Leannán Sídhe or “fairy lover” is a mythical creature from Irish Folklore, dooms their human lover to a short, but pleasurable, life. 

 

        I am in desperate need of a

        lover 

— in desperate need of the

              beating jungle of your 

              heart to tangle myself in,

— in desperate need of

                                you

        lullabying me

to sleep 

        with your

             rusty guitar.

 

          I am in desperate need of someone

          to write love poems to,

     because I’m a hopeless

                                 romantic

        who will tell you that 

love can only be born when

          We sword fight with our ribs

                       And kiss at the end.

 

Mother always taught me

              how to treat a man:

                         men need sex

         and they need 

                  to wrap around a body

            like an anaconda.

                  Baby, I’m shaped like an hourglass

                   but manufactured like a bullet.

 

  I don’t know if

          I’ll wake up tomorrow,

     but if I do

             hug me like you haven’t

          fucked me before.

             Hug my body and let our ribs

          merge and connect

              And accelerate each

          other’s heart beats double

             until we feel it

           up our throats.

 

  Baby, the English flutes announce

              Easter, so we can lie

        in a prairie of flowers

             like teenage lovers.

   Baby, sinners never suffer, and I

            don’t want pain. 

   Baby, haven’t you heard? The Second

             Coming came and went and

         God has left us to our own impulses.

 

    Darling, I’m in desperate need of a lover.

    I’m in desperate need of someone 

                      to die young with

                              and live as

                     vagabonds and 

          heathens and hedonists,

                        

                hurrying to the pleasure of life.

                         Hurrying to the end of our lives.

 

 The Seducer by Anisa Lopez