Flip the Hourglass and Quicksand Sinks

by Mercury Sunderland

flip the hourglass & quicksand sinks

down a deep chasm & escape

barred by a deep glass. i

find myself buried

under sand that drives me deeper. i

long for sandy beaches

where water crashes

on still shores. i

am clawing & digging

to avoid my own suffocation. i

will find sea stars

sea urchins

jellyfish

& beached whales

amongst me. i

clean my wounds with saltwater

making myself a fictional shark’s

tasty snack. i

need water

in this desert amongst me

deep down where these sands run. i

am flipping & drowning & flipping

into a dry prison. i

flip the hourglass & quicksand sinks

down a deep chasm & escape

barred by a deep glass.

BIO: Mercury Sunderland (he/him) is an autistic gay trans man from Seattle. He's been published by University of Amsterdam's Writer's Block, UC Davis' Open Ceilings, UC Riverside's Santa Ana River Review, and UC Santa Barbara's Spectrum. Cover Letter: Since 2019, he's received 258 (and counting) literary magazine acceptances, including: ○ Arcadia University's Marathon Literary Review ○ California State University San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus' Concrete Desert Review ○ California State University Stanislaus’ Penumbra Literary and Art Journal ○ Minnesota State University Moorhead's Red Weather (x2) ○ The National Collegiate Honors Council’s Journal of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (UReCA) (x2) ○ The New School's The Inquisitive Eater ○ Ringling College of Art and Design's Shift ○ SUNY Albany’s Barzakh ○ SUNY Oswego's Subnivean (x9) ○ SUNY Upstate Medical University's The Healing Muse ○ The University of Amsterdam's Writer's Block Magazine (x2) ○ The University of British Columbia's Decomp