"The Graeae, in Dust and Teeth" by Betty Stanton

 

The Graeae, in Dust and Teeth

Three shadows lean into the mirror—One eye rolling, wet, dropped, caught, dropped again, pressed into sockets raw, pressed into bone that will not see. One tooth passed hand to hand, mouth to mouth, cracked, splintered, lodged, spat, swallowed. They gnaw at skin and then at air, gnaw until hunger eats the tongue itself. Left behind with blood still warm and breath still rattling. Abandoned in bone, abandoned in dust, abandoned in the teeth of the labyrinth. They tear the skin from themselves, tear the silence, tear the thread burning red into the wrists. Enough, not enough, never enough—three mouths speaking, three mouths choking, three mouths spilling dust into oblivion. They smile with torn lips, smile with broken sockets, smile with nothing left inside.

Blood will not forget salt-scabbed mouths gaping hollow with blood, threads cut like veins.

~

Betty Stanton (she/her) is a Pushcart nominated writer who lives and works in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in various journals and collections and has been included in various anthologies. She received her MFA from The University of Texas - El Paso and holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership. She is currently on the editorial board of Ivo Review. @fadingbetty.bsky.social