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ISSUE III

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32 SIENNA SOLSTICE<br />

<strong>ISSUE</strong> <strong>III</strong> 33<br />

February Poppy<br />

Andrea Chow<br />

the wind, short-tempered, howling,<br />

fickler than her mother<br />

between her gasps and shrieks<br />

has crafted an accidental hurricane haven.<br />

she threw tantrums through December<br />

and spat rage through January.<br />

and finally, she has sobbed out all her despair<br />

wrung out from her misty body like a wet rag<br />

leaving only a damp trickle<br />

that wraps the mountains in a spilling sunrise light.<br />

she has spent months screaming,<br />

coaxing angry wrath across her breast,<br />

coating the mountains in a thin ash blanket.<br />

she has spent even more months weeping,<br />

a child mourning the loss of her mother,<br />

dusting coastal crags in a frigid powder.<br />

she cannot be angry forever,<br />

so, she collapses, exhausted, in February<br />

as one does after expending all their energy<br />

after a long day of grief.<br />

and in the brief respite<br />

a single poppy blooms<br />

between the cracks on the sidewalk<br />

miraculously dodging the heavy tread<br />

and unrelenting assault of the tempest,<br />

a delicate and solitary monk<br />

vivid, radiant, effervescent –<br />

exhaling softly against the February wind.<br />

dentistry for grown-ups<br />

Aliza Li<br />

open mouth.<br />

insert scalpel into gums<br />

slice horizontally.<br />

excavate the gold of a filling<br />

until you hear the shriek of<br />

someone’s mother.<br />

a tooth is only lost at a certain age.<br />

i receive a quarter<br />

for each dissected tooth,<br />

for all thirty two: an army<br />

jackknife. a slipjoint, the<br />

backspring inclining towards<br />

open, closed--and nothing between.<br />

slip the blade between two teeth.<br />

wiggle back and forth and<br />

detach every tooth from<br />

its seat until white<br />

is dyed red. girl<br />

becomes woman.<br />

Artwork by Miranda Navarro<br />

Artwork by Hunter Anson

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