Embodied Ancestors by K. T. Lyn
20 lines
Issue 10 (Spring 2026)
CW/TW: body horror
When the abyssal ache
in your bones throbs through the longest winters’ nights,
know that’s where I carved my grief, like lovers’ initials,
to tell you why we still believed.
I blinded your eyes with pounding brilliance
to mark the hope of summer’s joy.
These shoulders, when bestowed upon me,
came with the dislocation of our ancestry.
I’ve added to their burden by chaining them to others.
Together, you’ll carry
on. My entrails I’ve knotted into an irritable bow.
The future is a gift best nourished
by sharing bacterial biomes.
Dearest Descendent,
I’ve written my joy in our blood.
In sickness, remember my ghost floats through you
whispering wisdom.
Our bodies are an SOS, a teaching,
a letter to be read after death.
Keep the bloodlines open.
