Welcome to #FutureLitDarlings, a series dedicated to authors I (in my personal opinion) are really writing amazing, unique stuff. How it works: I call out a handful of authors, ones that might not get as much attention in and around various lit circles as they should, be it because they are new or simply underrepresented; the authors named are given a week to send me some writing to feature in subsequent posts here, on ENCLAVE. Simple and encouraging–as is my hope. The end result, ideally, is for this to be a continual showcase championing the depth and vibrancy of our community.
The first callout consisted of Matthew Bookin, Lauren Hilger, Frankie Zelnick, Elle Nash, Len Kuntz, Jordaan Mason, and Nadia de Vries.
The second author to reply was Nadia de Vries, and therefore, this post is dedicated to de Vries and her entrancing poetry. Have a look, you’ll see that she’s onto something exciting. We’re coping. –Michael J Seidlinger
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Poem for Cinderella
You did what you could
You gave him your kindness and he rejected it.
Don’t give in to feelings of remorse, spite, or revenge
This period is supposed to be a time of healing
Go swimming
Pick up embroidery
Be less selfish
You can’t have a cat without fleas
You can’t love a warm body
without losing a drop of blood.
Everybody Leaves Like Trees
Doubts are most comfortable when left in the dark.
Doubts grow strong in the dark like unborn butterflies.
The Illness Is Hereditary
Clumsy girls finish last, don’t you know?
Dark leaves cover your deepest pitfall.
Safety is a relative concept,
like scarcity, like silence,
like pain.
Insanity Is a Candle in the Window
The thing I miss most about England is the potato cakes
The thing I miss most about being small is the perceived absence of danger
My Amnesty
The swan falls into the nettles
Just because you are beautiful does not mean
you are exempt from making mistakes.
Your options are limited in the dark.
You tried stepping into the light
and looked burdened doing it.
The swan falls into the nettles
I don’t know what makes me beautiful
and that is what makes me beautiful.
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Nadia de Vries (b. 1991) lives in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. She is the author of First Communion (2015) and R.I.P. Nadia de Vries (forthcoming 2016). www.nadiadevries.com
