Schyler Butler

Girl Visits Fox Creek Plantation in North Carolina

What boxes define my race

what grandmother what place

what tears and Gossypium

inhabiting the abandoned plantation

where I ghost mammy the children 

running circles round my grace 

here I remove rebellion

bury beads of tourmaline

beneath a crossroad base

tie empty string around my waist

and sweep the children like crumbs

inside a box I wrap with lace

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Image by Ahmet Cantürk from Pexels

Schyler Butler is the author of Phantom Hue (CavanKerry Press, Fall 2026). Her work appears in Obsidian, swamp pink, and elsewhere. A recipient of funding from the Greater Columbus Arts Council and the Ohio Arts Council, she is pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at The Ohio State University.

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