T.E. Nordklev

@tenordklev.bsky.social

118 Followers 165 Following

I write stories about queer and beautiful monstrosity. [they/them]

They say unhappy childhoods beget unhappy childhoods. Had it been a happy childhood? He can’t remember, not entirely. Victor closes his eyes, damp hair in dark rivers, trying to picture his father’s strong nose, his blue eyes. He had given his creation blue eyes, ones that had reminded him of the color of the morning sky reflected on the Konigsee. But his father’s had been bright and clear, not the red-rimmed watery ones of his godforsaken creature. The monster’s sclera reminds him of the yellow-white of corpse fat, how it would bloom around his scalpel as he cut in. What have I brought into this world? (His mother, handing Victor off to a nanny. This isn’t my child, she would say. My child would never. When he was seventeen, she had died, leaving him only with questions.)
Photo of a poem published in the Spring 2022 copy of Carve Magazine THE MARRIAGE BED T.E. Nordklev I buy the sheets in cream and a bed big enough for two. Leave the windows open, the door unlocked. The smell of snow fills the room like a breath. I have ruddy cheeks and tired eyes, salt-encrusted hands. I stood, you know, for hours, salting the walkway, just in case someone comes. I sleep with one arm over a pillow, a body without a heartbeat, on a bed the color of broken shale.
photo of a tabby cat staring at the camera
photo of a tabby cat curled up on a sofa, looking discomfited that her servant has stopped petting her
A book cover design featuring a snake, bird, and botanicals, as well as a pale hand with long black nails. The text reads “Introduction to Natural Philosophy”
Photo of a tabby cat as seen from above, curled up and asleep on green and white blankets, his little arm over his eyes