"Rack Focus" by Emma Chan
and everyday, violence / like the way a dying bird dips / its neck once like an act of mercy before the falling / because no, it is not enough to be / a girl nor to own / a neck like how everyday i shake / my head and hear the rattling / of love inside of me / but nothing / but the air churning before my eyes / most of the time being pretty / is watching light steal slowly across my face / like how for a year i have bought a new shade / of lipstick every other sunday and prayed / my boyfriend will like it enough to bare / his teeth at my throat / to hold my name between his lips like a marble / but on this very special sunday / in may i am holding his name in my hands / like a knife and watching / a hummingbird fall / still / through my window / because its heart / is beating too fast and it owns / nothing less than its wings / than its heart / like how i know / i do not own him but how it would be nice / to know everything / (the girl in chemistry) / (the cheerleader he said he hated) / (his best friend) / less / but still / the falling / so yes, tonight / a girl, walking barefaced / onto the dance floor / body grafting into feathers / light bruising behind the glass
Emma Chan is the Editor-in-Chief of The Hearth Magazine.