Speculative Poetry Quotes

“We live in a world of unfulfilled fairytales.”
― Holly Walrath, Glimmerglass Girl

“I tell my sisters: / cultivate loneliness / like you might care for / an orchid, turning it / gently towards the light, / serving it water like wine / aerated, purified, filtered.”
― Holly Walrath, Glimmerglass Girl

“Bram Stoker’s Recipe

His peppermill mind
Ground Romanian folklore,
Dished out bloody bites.”
― LindaAnn LoSchiavo, Vampire Ventures: Poems

“News
“…she fell into the water from the sky…”



Jae-in Doe
Decedent is an Asian female.
Twenty-two she just had turned.
The cause of death we cannot tell
Despite the many things we’ve learned.



TOP SECRET
My Doe-type can be difficult to track.
Yet here I am, my voice-box playing back
From lips hydrangea-lavender in hue
His thoughts during our first few interviews.

The hair is shoulder-length, the color black.
The height and weight suggest she won’t fight back.
The fingernails are unadorned and short.
The eyes are brown; no makeup do they sport.
The skin appears unpierced and untattooed,

Yet scars of ruby-pearl seem to protrude
Like self-inflicted jewelry on each arm
And wrist—which means she’s vulnerable to harm.
The language of her flesh, as I assess her,
Reveals Confucian worship of professors.

Her deference Korean gives me right
To use her innocence for my delight.”
― Seo-Young Chu, The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2018: New Fiction, Poetry, and Category-Defying Literary Gems

“Drink deeply, my hapless mortal,
Of our heady, corrupting brew.
Feast upon fine foods and sweet treats
That turn to mere dust in your mouth
And mark you as ours forever.
Feel life’s warmth leave your soulless shell
Once that racing heart beats its last.
Lose the grace of mortality;
Become trapped for eternity.”
― Richard H. Fay, Cosmic Journeys and Gothic Visions: A Speculative Poetry Collection