PCC INSCAPE MAGAZINE
  • 2020 Summer Folio
  • About
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Feral Parrot : The Blog
  • Submissions
  • Awards & Prizes
    • Handley Award Winners
    • 2019 Inscape Editor's Prizes
  • PCC Inscape Instagram
  • STAFF 2020
    • Fall 2020 STAFF Q&A
    • Staff-FALL 2019
    • staff-SPRING 2019
    • Staff -FALL 2018
    • Staff-SPRING 2018
    • Staff -FALL 2017
  • Interviews
    • INT - Adrian Cepeda Poet of the Year 2019
    • INT-Visiting Writer Wendy Adamson FA2019
  • ONLINE ARCHIVE
    • 2020 February Folio
    • 2019 Fall Folio
    • Celebrating Dia De Los Muertos
    • Issue On-7 2019SPR Mental Health Companion >
      • Issue Intro
    • ISSUE ON-6 2018FA Frankenstein Companion
    • Issue On-5 - 2018Su
    • Issue On-4 2018FA Spirituality
    • Issue ON-3 2017FA
    • Issue On-2 2016SPR
    • Issue ON-1 2016FA
    • Folio 2 - Moon Moon 2019
    • Folio 1 - Vote - 2018
  • PRINT ARCHIVE
    • Fall 2018 Print Issue - Frankenstein TOC
    • Fall 2017 Print Issue - Manifesto TOC

​Cymothoa Exigua, or the Tongue-Eating Louse

by Laura Bandy
Cymothea exigua extracts blood through the claws on its front, causing the tongue to atrophy from lack of blood. 

The parasite then replaces the fish's tongue by attaching its own body to the muscles of what remains. 
 -Wikipedia entry

One, the louse vampires your tongue, sucking
all the blood out until you're left with a stub, schmuck.
Two, surprise! Something alive is in your mouth, 
a small clawed body latched and playing house.
Three, this is your life now, a raw and altered state.
Those carefree ocean days are over. You've been made great. 

Laura Bandy hails from Jacksonville, Illinois, home of the Ferris Wheel.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • 2020 Summer Folio
  • About
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Feral Parrot : The Blog
  • Submissions
  • Awards & Prizes
    • Handley Award Winners
    • 2019 Inscape Editor's Prizes
  • PCC Inscape Instagram
  • STAFF 2020
    • Fall 2020 STAFF Q&A
    • Staff-FALL 2019
    • staff-SPRING 2019
    • Staff -FALL 2018
    • Staff-SPRING 2018
    • Staff -FALL 2017
  • Interviews
    • INT - Adrian Cepeda Poet of the Year 2019
    • INT-Visiting Writer Wendy Adamson FA2019
  • ONLINE ARCHIVE
    • 2020 February Folio
    • 2019 Fall Folio
    • Celebrating Dia De Los Muertos
    • Issue On-7 2019SPR Mental Health Companion >
      • Issue Intro
    • ISSUE ON-6 2018FA Frankenstein Companion
    • Issue On-5 - 2018Su
    • Issue On-4 2018FA Spirituality
    • Issue ON-3 2017FA
    • Issue On-2 2016SPR
    • Issue ON-1 2016FA
    • Folio 2 - Moon Moon 2019
    • Folio 1 - Vote - 2018
  • PRINT ARCHIVE
    • Fall 2018 Print Issue - Frankenstein TOC
    • Fall 2017 Print Issue - Manifesto TOC