Poetry by Persephone Kirkland Delatte

Popsicle

I melt like a popsicle in the summer sun

sweet and colorful in a watermelon swimsuit

not the gangly preteen I wished to be, but short-limbed and awkward still,

with scraped knees and frizzy hair,

dripping salty sunscreen-flavored juice onto the deck –

a stain.

Persephone Kirkland Delatte (they/them) is the aesthetic coordinator for Periwinkle Literary Magazine and a grad student. They are a writer and an illustrator, and they also make jewelry, embroider, and speak Italian. They are currently working on a debut YA sci-fi / fantasy series, and their poetry has been published by F(r)iction and The Mark Literary Review.