Mother Magpie, by Cloe Wood

Prose, chapbook, 20 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

A baby appears in an umbrella stand. The baby is not a baby, but it’s also not a bird. Its mother is just a woman. In between the beginning and the end, soy milk, mice, a suitcase, and a broken window.

Mother Magpie is a fairytale about the reversal of Roe v. Wade, written two years before it happened. It is a comedic nightmare that you might have had yourself, and explores what is lost when something is found. It is for anyone who has ever wondered what they would do with a baby, or a bird. It is for anyone who has tried their best without it being very good. It is not a parenting guide. It is Cloe Wood’s first chapbook.

Cloe Wood is a girl learning to be a clown. She lives and labors in Oakland, California and attended the University of California, Berkeley. She had her tonsils removed when she was seven. She used to be good at math and is bad at spelling. She writes despite this.