mattea gernentz

Mattea Gernentz is a poet and art curator from Tennessee based in Edinburgh, Scotland. With studies in art history, literature, and psychology, she is an alumna of St Andrews and Wheaton College. Selected as one of Scotland's 2022 Next Generation Young Makars, her writing meditates on themes of beauty, memory, and faith. Her work has been featured in Kodon, The Pub, ST.ART Magazine, and various anthologies. You can find more of her work on her website, whimsyandwords.com, and Instagram page, @thewhimsicalowl.

forbidden fruit

I prefer to eat my clementines

before the window, letting the light

trickle in and fall with soft step across

dusty floorboards. There, I peel the rind

like a flower, a slow, holy act, sacrament 

with shards spread in each lonely direction,

and I hold up every penny slice to the glow

to see if a rebel seed lies cocooned inside, 

waiting to trick, to choke, to flood the mouth

with bitterness. Curse of forbidden fruit,

the beginning of the next generation or

ripe newness in death. Remove the seed.

Take and eat. Do not let it pass from me.

In not-so-tender liturgies, I glimpse light.

Heavy-handed Lord, I believe you saw 

us coming, like a shadow waiting 

to be born. I think you ushered us in anyway.

Read more of Mattea’s work in Solum Journal Volume II and Solum Journal Volume III.