"Ritual, Interrupted" by David Ly

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Illustration of a harpy eagle holding onto a snake, both tied together by red string and surrounded by moths

Illustration by lauren elms

David Ly is the author of Mythical Man (2020) and Dream of Me as Water (2022), both published under the Anstruther Books imprint of Palimpsest Press, and short-listed for the 2021 and 2023 ReLit Poetry Awards, respectively. He is also co-editor (with Daniel Zomparelli) of Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry (Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022). David’s poems have appeared in publications such as Pan MacMillan’s HE, SHE, THEY, US: Queer Poems (2024) anthology, Arc Poetry Magazine, Best Canadian Poetry, PRISM International, and The Ex-Puritan, where he won the inaugural Austin Clarke Prize in Literary Excellence. David is the Poetry Editor at This Magazine.

Lauren Elms (Queen Of Vermin / Rat Queen) is an illustrator, and tattoo artist based in the stolen unneeded lands of SḴWX̱WÚ7MESH,STÓ:LŌ and SƏL̓ÍLWƏTAʔ/SELILWITULH and XʷMƏΘKʷƏY̓ƏM nations, also known as Vancouver, Canada. Her work draws on themes from the occult, mythology, and ecological stories and emblems. Follow her work on Instagram (@queenofvermin) and on https://queen-of-vermin.square.site/.