Somniloquy with Dahlias

Taylor Hamann Los

Museum of oddities.

Ladybugs like blood

drops in corners.

The shadows hate

how I lie still.

I forget—

I need a leucotome

            to cut away the petals

                        littering my brain.

Pinwheel. Voices.

            Battering ram.

Too many flowers.

Sometimes I wake

            & they appear

                        in my hand.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Taylor Hamann Los holds an MFA from Lindenwood University. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in Whale Road Review, Chestnut Review, Magma Poetry, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, and trampset, among others. She is the author of Between My Spine & the River (Ridge Books, 2025). You can find her on X — @taylorhamannlos and at taylorhamannlos.wordpress.com.