Sam Beal

creation myth #7

PUBLISHED IN FOLIO 2026: VOL. 41.

a girl falls from the sky
into the sea

‍ ‍ unwilling diving practice / forced shove
from the heaven of air / absent of a body

finds herself
in the mouth of a fish

‍ ‍pinched O of lips / slow blinking / open hole as bottom-
less abyss / cavernous cage of mistaken skin

scrapes fingers across
the carp’s inner cheek

‍ ‍proud monster / older than mud / hums shanties in
bubbled morse / knows men / immortalize its breadth
flat scales the size / of cities

sucks in stale water
clings to esophagus

‍ ‍what do you know / of bodies / of frames
of open graves and their bones / scrutinized
by sterile hands / false gods of ill intent

cuts a way shaking
out of its throat

‍ ‍gill of the beast as forced door / blind slice of
want / fatty meat / rubber curtains / weight
to push through

comes out
something like a boy

‍ ‍ enraged / stubbly & determined / to prove his skin
is boy skin / his jaw / his eager tongue

comes out
something like a fish

‍ ‍ wet & shining alien / lured up / something
other / either / other / the sea’s chorus
of living / taunt

comes out
bless him
the only way he can

iridescent & gasping

𐫱𐫱𐫱

Sam Beal (He/They) is a trans poet and community organizer born and raised in the Florida panhandle. He received his BA in Creative Writing from Florida State University and is currently an educator and MFA candidate at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His work has appeared in The Hurricane Review, Transmuted, Fruitslice, t’ART, and more.