Instructions for Domestic Storms by Kate Choi (16, South Korea)*

It’s all a game now. 

If you wake early in the morning,
shut the door & measure the minutes before
the coffee maker beeps. Count the beats
between crashes, record the decibels of each 
crack. Divide by five & forget
about miles; the eye is just inches away. 

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​1. When you are ready, emerge         quietly,
                tread         lightly
    walk         soft but cheerful.         Smile.

2. SMILE. say    hello daddy &
        good morning daddy. Never act
    the part you are meant to play, the
    sleep-deprived teenager (groan 
                “coffee,” shield your eyes 
     against the light). No,
    count the crashes.    Stay alert;
        hold your fingers to the wind.

3. SMILE. Tread lightly. Be
    soundless. Be scrupulous. Be 
    perfect so perfect you are not
    criticizable. Be careful when 
    you set the cups on the table 
    not to make a sound. Wait to see…

    When the next thing comes crashing down &
    what it will be—a ficus a dollhouse
    thousands of tiny mini mes, they all came tumbling 
    down. & all for the want of a horseshoe nail (read:
    a wave, a chore, a smile, a memory).

    You’re a kingdom, and when the lightning starts
    flying the kingdom falls too. 
    You hate that you’re so “fragile
        so weak,” but don’t they 
    tell you that’s how daughters are supposed to be?

    Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, & they 
    all say it was        his own        great fall… 
    but maybe, you wonder, there was someone
    beside him who pushed him 
    to pieces--
                  A gust, an angry breeze. 

4. Make up the king’s men, make up 
    some more, because you have to
    put the pieces back together again. 
    Put them back together again & 
    smile. 

    SMILE. If that doesn’t work, 
    laugh—laugh until your eyes brim &
    your heart fractures & 
    your skin cracks, 

    Make yourself laugh at the unfunny 
    things until your cheeks hurt &
    your chest aches & you 
    feel your face collapse. 

    Because then at least it’s you—not a 
    storm not a blast not a rain of fire & 
    hailstones & houseplants, but
    you, only you--
    only ever you you you you you

    who makes this kingdom crash. 

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