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a space for youth writing on mental health & identity
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a space for youth writing on mental health & identity
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![]() [Content warning: implications of sexual assault] Jiejie presses my lips, morganite to ruby quills. Damp nibs sew asphalt skin into freshly fallen snow: a column of peach glissandos Jiejie’s veiled eyes pleat under jade
cavities and melted gossamer pulled taut— she’s crying. Broken nails fasten lilies to my dress soon to be torn on linen sheets. she cups my face I turn away, it’s better for both of us. quivering whispers dart up my spine, a sonatina unsullied of reed-shaped gourds— you look like a pusa she says, her strained cheeks crinkling upward as if Pangu is splitting the sky we both know guanyin pusa only likes clean girls she likes girls who can love, and love eternally to the man they chose, I sell my tongue, cull the syllables. They don’t remember Jiejie’s reed-fan river dances of seasilk costumes. When his footsteps fill the space between my skin and my ribcage my lips thaw like ruined cherries, for they are no longer mine. Translation Notes jiejie - older sister Pusa - Bodhisattva Pangu - a figure in Chinese mythology who separated the earth and the heavens Guanyin pusa - the goddess of mercy in Chinese mythology Comments are closed.
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September 2023
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