Connor Fisher
Horse Thieves
frigid snakes curl under leaf beds
as pilgrims whip themselves and sleep
beneath sheets of their own skin
my sons pass among horse thieves
they sneeze and flinch
they kick down doors to minor landscapes
a circle of mushrooms in the wilderness
the binding of sod and grass
the flawless wings of butterflies
the ghosts of horses drank beer
a black bull stomped through water
crows plucked out their fathers’ eyeballs
my sons
my sons slept in the moss for two days
their hands blistered and wrapped in gauze
the ghosts of horses sleep in the moss
they impregnate the earth
they will be reborn
Connor Fisher is the author of A Renaissance with Eyelids (Schism Press, 2024), The Isotope of I (Schism Press, 2021) and four poetry and hybrid chapbooks including The Unholy Moon (salò press, 2024). He has an MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Ph.D. in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Georgia. His writing has appeared in journals including Denver Quarterly, the Yalobusha Review, Tammy, the Colorado Review, Word for/Word, and Diagram. He currently lives and teaches in northern Mississippi.