DEVOTION REGATHERING
kin scented ornaments evoke promise
my language hardens under her breath like
ritual begging again in vicious
fight our words dance open my body arc
in distant fog. I was taught to desire treasure space
longing pressed in want our shining armor
ancient wisdom rebuild our bodies scene
until song releases new lineage
crone shapes of fury new positions
cast unbelievable dreams these magics
have stories to teach lunar tongue in tongue
i arch for hers like moon’s tide returning
our omens our dead our memory our
love’s fire protected. we inspire foreshadow
as great apothecary knows of fruit
buried web what divine oddly comes in you? this
feasts psyche feels our bodies dust from waves
pull my holes open with fervent hunger
come wander our gifts make rich boundaries
come mist tend our bodies intimate space
we welcome reasoned guidance let our rare
prayers ooze transformation with tender
cave echoes under her fingers call
the Beauty of lust sows us a blessing
where seeds of nature and Love collide
where conflict dissipates in lords prayer
you came to me like ocean takes pleasure
inside a shell. the pitch of natures math
washes our landscape. resonate Love through
vibrating spirits, our bodies pulsing drum
ride me like prophecy soaked knowing.
to Love you deeply returns promised land.
ancient wisdom releases minds alike
trace my lineage in your consumption
our honest tension bbbr reak s free of cages
fires foreshadow true inspiration
as i yearn air spills from my instrument
harmonized nature is how we will win
dances give crone shapes of fury
rides her thigh like prophecy, soaked in
knowing way to battle mirrored cast
spit-slick our moans spiral wild as clouds
DEVOTION LET: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SONNET
horizon collapses
where ocean meets heaven
you are my guilty summation.
time remothers prayer
like a newborn crown
our tender machine
waltz pearls of sweat
in Beauty’s hand
shinies grow a sister’s luck
i take money the womanly way
pucker towards your
silkened mouth. brush
stroke my makers body
each line, sculpt my rebirth
Mayah Monet Lovell is a Black lesbian transdisciplinary artist and scientist from DC. She is an editor and curator of dykes day and underground paper dykes City Dispatch (Hermetic State), author of Phanto (Nueoi Press, 2023), Be Dead (Test Pie Press, 2025) and forthcoming title with Discount Guillotine (Mar 2026). Her performance and visual work have shown at Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery, Transformers, Rhizome, Vox Populi, people’s living rooms, and elsewhere. Connect with Mayah on Instagram or at mayahmonet.com