which vampires know my name? by Linda M. Crate
in slavic myths
vampires souls can
become moths
or butterflies,
perhaps that is why
there are always
butterflies flying after me;
i once said,
"you know i like my vampires."
my mother
insisted,
"maybe vampires like you,"
with such certainty,
i wonder how many she has
slain in order to keep me safe;
but she probably didn't
consider the soft beautiful butterfly
with her dainty wings
a blood sucker even if butterflies
do drink blood—
i wonder which vampires
know my name.
Bio
Linda M. Crate (she/her) is a Pennsylvanian writer whose poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has eighteen published chapbooks the latest being: crescent moon (Fae Corps Publishing, July 2026).
Author's note
I've always been interested in mythology and the occult growing up. I happened to be on Instagram when I saw a post that talked about how in Slavic mythology that vampire's souls could be transformed into butterflies or moths. I found this very intriguing (especially given that butterflies do drink blood) and decided I wanted to explore this idea in some of my writing. This was the first piece to come of my discovery.
