Cauldron Anthology Issue 6 - LGBTQIA+ Cauldron Anthology LGBTQIA+ | Page 18

Burden of Proof Daniella Jo after Sappho “Little is known of her life” each one begins, demanding evidence, doubting her glut of testimony: the strung-up fibers she left for us to find. For myself, I submit to the jury: poultices of crabapples and mud, cattails bursting into my sticky hands their million seedlings, and my spiral-bound book of remedies - blue, laminated, sun-bleached under a film of dirt and sweat. Also a collection of quartz pulled from the churned earth, cleaned with my spit, and hundreds of dried flowers, languishing now in landfills throughout the tristate area. Not that witchy children are always lesbians, but, sometimes correlation is causation, at least the hours of birdwatching definitely did something. In my case, I’m joyful and guilty of longing for her soft shoulders, to smooth and press my hand flat into the folds everywhere, but especially at her hips. 18 Cauldron Anthology