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The Queen of Hearts Lures Alice into the Labyrinth

Love, enter.
This place is a different
kind of prayer—
a red thread knotted
to your wrist, unspooling
in the dark. Here, you must unsee
the hands held before you, must unknow
the edges of your body.
Down in dream land, you know the way.
Drop your blade. You have laid
yourself out.
Now follow
yourself out.
Drop your blade. You have laid
down in dream land. You know the way
to the edges of your body.
The hands held before you must unknow
the dark. Here you must unsee
your wrist unspooling,
a red thread knotted
into a kind of prayer—
This place is different,
Love. Enter.

Amanda Roth is a writer, folklorist, and multi-disciplinary artist living in Central Texas. Her work appears in Okay Donkey, Poetry South, Portland Review, West Trestle Review, Literary Mama, MAYDAY, and elsewhere. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.

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