top of page
Search
  • Writer's pictureNeon Mariposa Magazine

Three Poems by Tianna G. Hansen

linger



hold me tight / as you sleep / keep me from slipping / away,

more ghost than woman / a haunting to linger / energy trapped

in each delicate moment / these spirits possess me

even the tightest grip / can’t keep me away / from a bottle of

whiskey / I no longer resist the urge / disappear & fade 

into the black-lit evening / desert mirage 

[I was never here at all.]






this dark thing I



this dark thing floats inside me 

   a lightbulb begging to be 

flicked on; a switch activating

   like a werewolf to the full moon

like the northern lights to staring eyes

  to me, this dark thing sleeps. it 

stirs up inside, whirlwinds

   reaching fingers take me under

hold my head down below water.

   why do I always feel like I am 

on the verge of drowning? 

   like there is never enough air

to gulp deep into my lungs,

   hold steady and suck deep

refilling my body with beauty

   in each full breath, why do I 

turn toward darkness instead of 

   turning my face into the light?





Maleficent



I’ve transformed this skin into scales

a mighty dragon / begging to be unleashed

fire brimming in my belly / hot, fierce.

I’ve kept these words locked inside my throat

so long they’ve become brimstone / ignited 

by my passion to break the bonds of silence

chaining my flickering tongue in place.

I grow to the height of many buildings / castles 

with pointed tips / grazing a darkened sky

ripping a hole in the canvas of night, 

darkness / no longer holds me captive

from my mouth bursts magnificent flame

I will never hold back the yearning to speak

again. 




Tianna G. Hansen has been writing her whole life, born in the desert but now thriving in the woodlands of PA. She founded and is EIC of Rhythm & Bones Press, focused on turning trauma into art. Her debut poetry collection Undone, Still Whole explores how trauma survivors can reclaim their bodies, channeling the power of goddesses and witchcraft to heal. Tianna is also part of a three-poet opera A Victorian Dollhousing Ceremony where she takes on the role of The Firebird. Find more of her published work at creativetianna.com or follow her on Twitter @tiannag92.

45 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

the cankerous grackles in the parking lots swarming in synchronicity like a biblical plague they don’t scare easy no matter how mean you make your face instead they congregate right in your path and t

across the room from me, my guitar pulses bright colors, throbs dreams I can’t ignore. I think about sleep but the music’s too loud. my guitar sprouts lilies not intended to twine, purrs of birds I’ll

Hope to Thaw If I were frozen in the ground, I’d hope to thaw. I’m left with muddy footprints and sticky fingers- I’m a thief. I stole what I needed to survive: a wet tongue, a Celtic cross against a

bottom of page