ISSUE III
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
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