Eden by Aisling Timoney (Ireland, 22)

Like the stone of a plum
Ripped from its core
And caught between your teeth
Is that how it felt to suck on me?
Twiddle my heart between index and thumb
Taste the sweetness of my love
And spit me back out when I’m bone dry.
​​

Maybe I’m noxious like the weeds in your garden
Bouncing back twice as hard, like some distant cousin of a Japanese knotweed.
Maybe you’ll make a monster out of me,
Your own version of Medusa
Striking like the serpent concealed within the grass.
Tread carefully, I’m once bitten,
But never twice
I’m armed with the venom of every maddened woman.




Aisling Timoney is an English literature student at Maynooth University where she has been partaking in the university's selected creative writing modules led by Kildare's Art Council writer in residences this past academic year. These classes have pushed Aisling to begin publishing her work this year. Aisling's work is inspired by her love of mythology and delves into themes of girlhood, religious guilt and the relationship between body and nature. Aisling spends her spare time devouring coffee and books. She is a proud mum to her two dogs Misty and Daisy. ​​