Emerging Voices from the Wild

Marisca Pichette
Ishi
a step is like the shadow they left
behind
when too many came and saw the last
cloud
over the California morning
a night of sorts,
a night before the gloaming,
a silent evening with only
one voice
because a voice alone is something
like silence
something
like the top key on a piano
{titter away into darkness}
there’s only one dawn left on Yahi
there’s really nothing here at all,
only a handful of words and maybe
one broken request
to please leave my bones
where my past lies

Marisca Pichette is a queer creator of monsters and magic. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Strange Horizons, Fireside Magazine, Channel Magazine, Room Magazine, PseudoPod, and PodCastle, among others. She lives in Western Massachusetts.