The Sea Cannot Turn to Stone

Welcome to 2023! I’m hitting the ground running, I swear, even though it is nearly March already. How the hell did that happen?

Anyway, I started submitting pieces right away, on January 1st. All poetry to start with, still trying to place the pieces that didn’t find a home last year. I’ve also dusted off a comedy piece I wrote for a contest years ago, Sebastian the Safety Squirrel, and am trying to place that as well.

But that’s not why we’re here today, is it? Nope! I bring you here today to talk about my poem, THE SEA CANNOT TURN TO STONE. This is a re-telling of the Medusa myth, born from a submission call by my friend Jaime Dill and her literary journal, Full Mood Magazine, on the theme of ‘Mythos’. While ultimately we realized that my Medusa wasn’t the right fit for Full Mood, I was so incredibly excited and in love with this piece that I started shopping it around, finally finding a home at JAKE, The Anti-Literary Magazine.

This poem is by far the longest I have ever written, starting off at over 1,000 words before being trimmed down to 750-ish. I find it to be extremely powerful and have had people comment that this is their favorite thing I’ve written thus far.

THE SEA CANNOT TURN TO STONE does carry a Content Warning for Sexual Violence, although it is NOT graphically described and only circumspectly mentioned in one stanza. Please do not read it if it will make you feel uncomfortable.