Two Pieces
Maudie Bryant
Torn at the Fork
In the crucible of self, twin faces collide,
debating what’s been lost— the shattered parts—
and what remains— a fragile image, preserved
in a heart’s fractured chambers.
The moon casts a double shadow,
guiding stray feet amidst tangles,
where sunlight spills secrets,
sparkling, strange. Two paths diverge—
venous return and arterial flow—
each an inverse of the other,
a duel of light and dark, side by side.
One heart, split in duality, pulses
in the ancient struggle, the chasm of each beat
exposing a rift in the soul, the frail
flickering beneath the stars’ shifting gaze.
Cycles of Becoming
Molecules reflect memory,
nebulous possibility—
fumbled fusion.
Mirages
mix
in searing starbursts;
chaos counters
collapse
favored for
formation.
Cry to Mother Moon,
her full form fluid, formed
in fractal fugues,
time enough
to receive the Crone,
what used to be,
fraught with wisdom,
ever hungry. The Maiden,
renewed.
Maudie Bryant is a mother, educator, and multidisciplinary artist living in Shreveport, Louisiana. Her work explores the complexities of memory and identity, often surveying the disquiet that lurks beneath the surface of human existence. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Anodyne Magazine, Susurrus, and Spellbinder.