POETRY BY THERESA DERWIN

Theresa Derwin writes horror and dark comedy.

She has just achieved her MA degree in Creative Writing. She is the 2019 HWA Mary Shelley Scholarship recipient.

She has over sixty anthology acceptances, including a story titled “Shift Left for Love” in Brigid’s Gate Press’ Weretales which made Ellen Datlow’s 2021 recommend long list. 

She has published four collections and edited ten anthologies. Her forthcoming books include God’s Vengeance from Crystal Lake Publishing. 

Follow her at
Twitter @BarbarellaFem
Instagram @theresa.derwinauthor

ALONE

For daring to speak
Her mind
Crushed by seeking more
For her anguished existence.
Easier to blame her
Ban her—
Voice
Her choice
Her decision

Her body

She embraces the new
Identity

Ban-she

IT EXISTS BENEATH THE ASHES

Shiny viscera wrapped
in gloss
Pen poised, it drips
blood
onto naked pages—
created from the skin of
innocents.
Torn asunder,
memories fuse with ink.
Ragged screams erupt
from the calligraphy
bestowing torture
aplenty.
A gift from Hell.
Scars survive
but they do not define me

though they haunt our
nightmares,
slicing through flesh
to finest marrow
unraveling who I am.
Rebuilding the carcass
from ashes of pain.
Phoenix rising
from parchment…

Absolution

FREAKS AND GEEKS

You with the three breasts
And the purple hair
The conjoined twins
A magnificent pair
Of beautiful specimens
Come fill my jar
With your bizarre
Intelligence and poise.

You with the missing nipple
Or the one who wants
To be
Anything ‘he’ or ‘she’ or ‘they’
Want to be
Join us and celebrate
Don’t hesitate 
to show the world – your beauty.

Come join our show
Of freaks and geeks
We know what’s chic
We are the mode, vogue
Who dance, embrace
What others hate
We are the song, the voice
We made our choice

LONELINESS…

Swollen throat singing of
Loss, love, pain.
The cause is her.
Always her.

Silenced by him
She is eternal