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Bailey Merlin
Bailey Merlin
Dec 1, 20221 min read
Poem #33
Striped I fell from a dock in the summer, split my hand open like a ripened fig, blood drip-dropping to ruddy the waves while I gulped...
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Bailey Merlin
Sep 9, 20221 min read
Poem #32
Dry Socket I’m bad at being an invalid, so I keep angel teeth in my pocket and crunch them up into dust so I can commune with the dead...
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Bailey Merlin
Aug 4, 20221 min read
Poem #31
Double Helix Breakdown She’s waiting for spiders to crawl from her fingernail ridges and ride into battle, feeling their history as they...
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Bailey Merlin
Jul 2, 20212 min read
Poem #30
Diagnosis with the Crypt Keeper The first time I meet my psychiatrist, he asks if we’ve met before. This does not bode well. He asks...
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Bailey Merlin
Apr 15, 20211 min read
Poem #29
Hill of Beans The doughnut shop isn’t up to code; danger makes a delicious dish. Here, hello is flash-fried catfish. Go ahead, eat up,...
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Bailey Merlin
Mar 18, 20211 min read
Poem #28
Lesson in Lockjaw My grandfather’s jaw is locked into the smoothness of my chin, a mechanism that helps me chew the fat at Christmas,...
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Bailey Merlin
Mar 4, 20214 min read
Burnout
I need to write something. It needs to be 500 words. It needs to be posted today. At first, I was going to post a poem because I have...
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Bailey Merlin
Feb 18, 20211 min read
Poem #27
Continuum of Care Pen clicks mark time in a unit where no one gets to leave. This purgatory; sins never really purged, impossible. No sin...
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Bailey Merlin
Jan 18, 20211 min read
Poem #26
As so many of you may well know, there is a lot to be said about Yelp reviews. The best thing to say about them, of course, is how...
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Bailey Merlin
Sep 30, 20201 min read
Poem #25
I’ve been working on some really big projects these last few months, which means less time for writing smaller pieces like short stories...
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Bailey Merlin
Jul 31, 20201 min read
Poem #24
Mudbug Mood I’m thinking about crawfish and the way they boil brackish in the high heat of June, seasoned spicy in a galvanized washtub...
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Bailey Merlin
Jun 30, 20201 min read
Poem #23
ATLAS, part 2 restless road rage knots you in asphalt ribbons tied to sunset suicides––glass shards bleed out into the next life full of...
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Bailey Merlin
Jan 3, 20201 min read
Poem #22
Sheol My littlest sister braids her Barbie’s hair in the middle of her room, and brings some cogent questions: I understand the sun...
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Bailey Merlin
Oct 30, 20191 min read
Poem #21
Autotomy I’m passions paled away ashy, waiting for a word to flutter, hinging on this fingernail, and that one scratching out phrases...
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Bailey Merlin
Jun 30, 20191 min read
Poem #20
The Forgetting Season Gideon’s fur finally grew back, two years after you shaved him that summer, despite his undercoat. His dappled...
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Bailey Merlin
May 12, 20191 min read
Poem #19: Happy Mother’s Day
This is for your mother, Kathleen. Even after I stopped loving you, I couldn’t move her from my heart. This poem was written when my...
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Bailey Merlin
Apr 17, 20191 min read
Poem #18
Variables Climatiques La mer a crevé dans rien comme vous l’avez fait il y a six ans maintenant; votre corpse est une coquille, un...
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Bailey Merlin
Apr 15, 20192 min read
Poem #17
Holy Ground After I tell him I’m tired of crashing into someone else’s desperation, I reach for you and conquer misplaced loyalty with a...
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Bailey Merlin
Mar 23, 20191 min read
Poetry Update 6!
My piece “in conversation with yet another therapist i stopped seeing” was announced as a finalist in the Lascaux Prize in Poetry...
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Bailey Merlin
Feb 10, 20191 min read
Poetry Update 5!
I am pleased to announce the very recent acceptance and publication of my poem “Passive Drop” on Dime Show Review today. It is an honor...
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