Of the Scales

By Brittany Hutzel

In the violet minutes of the morning, the fisherman emerged

Avoiding his enemy resting by the fuchsia shore

Avoiding the heron, diving sharp as a scythe

To gather, he did, the mermaid scales

Lying plentiful and aquamarine in the velvet icy emerald water

Finding none now made of gold, he threw them back, defeated

And made his lunch, a pie of teal Japanese pumpkin

On a stump in the harbor, he sat in his sadness

In his sadness he spoke like violin

Of the harbor

Of the evergreens

Of the basilisk he one day faced

And of the fisherman

In the violet minutes of the morning, his pupils shown emerald

Then black again

—

Brittany Hutzel is graduating from NYU in less than a month. She’s a poet, editor, and content marketer, who enjoys travel, baklava, and Christmas most of all.

Josue Ledesma is a recent graduate from NYU Gallatin. While his background is in creative writing/screenwriting, he has focused most of his efforts on a burgeoning illustration career.  You can keep up with him on his blog at jl-illustration.blogspot.com, follow him on twitter @JL_Illustration, or support him through society6.com/JosueLedesma.

Sunday Read is a weekly literary feature curated and edited by Wesley Salazar. We are accepting submissions of short stories, poetry, essays, script excerpts, etc. (max: 1000 words) on a rolling basis. We are also looking for artists who would like to illustrate for Sunday Read. Please submit to wesleyATbushwickdaily.com.