this country will require you to be magical then attempt to burn you for being a witch

By Angelique Zobitz

It's #tbt! Enjoy this great one from SWWIM Every Day's archives!

---

Girl-child, power-in-waiting, Revolution,  
this world will try to cleave you 
in half, reach inside—
lay waste, leave you
a bloody mess of seed, 
pulp, carved out meat—
pick your bones 
attempt to harness your sweet
for a world full 
of eager carrion birds. 

Transfigurate:
flower, fruit, fire— 
unfurl an inferno
curling coils down 
your devil back. 
Scorch them with your flame 
tongue. Remind them you
predate evangelism; 
leave them ashes, 
burn them down—
teach them our bodies
are best left alone.

---

Angelique Zobitz (she/her/hers) is the author of the chapbooks Burn Down Your House (Milk & Cake Press) and Love Letters to The Revolution (American Poetry Journal). Her first book, Seraphim, is forthcoming from CavanKerry Press in April 2024. She is a 2022-2023 Jake Adam York Prize and Philip Levine Prize finalist, multi-nominated for the Best of the Net, Best New Poets, and the Pushcart Prize. Her work appears in The Journal, Sugar House Review, Yemasse, Obsidian: Literature & Arts of the African Diaspora, The Adirondack Review, ANMLY, and many others. She can be found at www.angeliquezobitz.com and on Twitter and Instagram: @angeliquezobitz.

---

• Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter for updates—and visit our website to see past, present, and future readings & events.

• Are you a SWWIMmer with literary news to share (publication/feature/award/book/book review)? We’d love to shout out your accomplishments in our Weekly Spotlight! Please email swwimmiami@gmail.com. (No DMs, please.)

---

**We do our best to preserve the integrity of each poem; however, due to programming limitations, some poems may read differently on a mobile phone and in certain browsers. For best viewing, use Chrome on a desktop/laptop.