Mahaila Smith

Offerings to Save the World

After Christi Belcourt

I stand on the mountains of strawberry fields
that lace my muscles with veins
of red and gold water and sun and earth.
I stand at the edge of an oceanic ravine.
Even at the lowest depths,
marine animals find a reason to put the lights on.
I swim to the sun-shaped hole in outer-space
and peer over the edge at the mirrored universe.
The parallel timeline attracts prayers and ghosts.
I let my makeup compact idolize through the black window.
I let  my weathervane heart navigate.

Bios

Photo of Mahaila Smith outdoors with a fake butterfly on their head|

Mahaila Smith (they/she/he) is the co-editor for the speculative magazine, The Sprawl Mag. They are a writer from the traditional unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory of Ottawa, Ontario. Their debut chapbook was published by Anstruther Press in 2020.

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