top of page
Bailey Merlin
Poem #33
Striped I fell from a dock in the summer, split my hand open like a ripened fig, blood drip-dropping to ruddy the waves while I gulped...

Bailey Merlin
Dec 1, 20221 min read
Poem #32
Dry Socket I’m bad at being an invalid, so I keep angel teeth in my pocket and crunch them up into dust so I can commune with the dead...

Bailey Merlin
Sep 9, 20221 min read
Poem #31
Double Helix Breakdown She’s waiting for spiders to crawl from her fingernail ridges and ride into battle, feeling their history as they...

Bailey Merlin
Aug 4, 20221 min read
Poem #30
Diagnosis with the Crypt Keeper The first time I meet my psychiatrist, he asks if we’ve met before. This does not bode well. He asks...

Bailey Merlin
Jul 2, 20212 min read
Poem #29
Hill of Beans The doughnut shop isn’t up to code; danger makes a delicious dish. Here, hello is flash-fried catfish. Go ahead, eat up,...

Bailey Merlin
Apr 15, 20211 min read
Poem #28
Lesson in Lockjaw My grandfather’s jaw is locked into the smoothness of my chin, a mechanism that helps me chew the fat at Christmas,...

Bailey Merlin
Mar 18, 20211 min read
Burnout
I need to write something. It needs to be 500 words. It needs to be posted today. At first, I was going to post a poem because I have...

Bailey Merlin
Mar 4, 20214 min read
Poem #27
Continuum of Care Pen clicks mark time in a unit where no one gets to leave. This purgatory; sins never really purged, impossible. No sin...

Bailey Merlin
Feb 18, 20211 min read
Poem #26
As so many of you may well know, there is a lot to be said about Yelp reviews. The best thing to say about them, of course, is how...

Bailey Merlin
Jan 18, 20211 min read
Poem #25
I’ve been working on some really big projects these last few months, which means less time for writing smaller pieces like short stories...

Bailey Merlin
Sep 30, 20201 min read
Poem #24
Mudbug Mood I’m thinking about crawfish and the way they boil brackish in the high heat of June, seasoned spicy in a galvanized washtub...

Bailey Merlin
Jul 31, 20201 min read
Poem #23
ATLAS, part 2 restless road rage knots you in asphalt ribbons tied to sunset suicides––glass shards bleed out into the next life full of...

Bailey Merlin
Jun 30, 20201 min read
Poem #22
Sheol My littlest sister braids her Barbie’s hair in the middle of her room, and brings some cogent questions: I understand the sun...

Bailey Merlin
Jan 3, 20201 min read
Poem #21
Autotomy I’m passions paled away ashy, waiting for a word to flutter, hinging on this fingernail, and that one scratching out phrases...

Bailey Merlin
Oct 30, 20191 min read
Poem #20
The Forgetting Season Gideon’s fur finally grew back, two years after you shaved him that summer, despite his undercoat. His dappled...

Bailey Merlin
Jun 30, 20191 min read
Poem #19: Happy Mother’s Day
This is for your mother, Kathleen. Even after I stopped loving you, I couldn’t move her from my heart. This poem was written when my...

Bailey Merlin
May 12, 20191 min read
Poem #18
Variables Climatiques La mer a crevé dans rien comme vous l’avez fait il y a six ans maintenant; votre corpse est une coquille, un...

Bailey Merlin
Apr 17, 20191 min read
Poem #17
Holy Ground After I tell him I’m tired of crashing into someone else’s desperation, I reach for you and conquer misplaced loyalty with a...

Bailey Merlin
Apr 15, 20192 min read
Poetry Update 6!
My piece “in conversation with yet another therapist i stopped seeing” was announced as a finalist in the Lascaux Prize in Poetry...

Bailey Merlin
Mar 23, 20191 min read
Poetry Update 5!
I am pleased to announce the very recent acceptance and publication of my poem “Passive Drop” on Dime Show Review today. It is an honor...

Bailey Merlin
Feb 10, 20191 min read
Blog
bottom of page