A POEM by IVI HUA
TRIAD
DAWN OF SUMMER & I FEEL THE ROT SEEPING INTO MY BONES / THE TEMPLE CITADEL / MY BODY A FEATHER / TURNING HERON ON THE CLIFFSIDE. I BELIEVE IN NO GOD. // I CRY TO THE HEAVENS / SO YOU’LL SEE ME / HEAR THAT LIQUID DAZE. // TRITONE & SERPENT. / BASILICA & ORACLE. / I WOULD SINK UNDER THE WATER & / BREATHE NAMES / OF ETHER / CRUSH ALL THAT REMAINED / IN VACUUM. / THIS TIME / I LIE IN SECOND INVERSION / INHARMONIOUS & DISSONANT. / MY HEART HANGS LIKE A LOOSE TOOTH— I TEMPT TO RIP IT OUT / LEAVE GUM / GAPING / BED / BLEEDING. // I / WITHERED AT THE EDGES. / I / THE HALCYON. // THE SUN STEALING ALL THE LIGHT / THE BOY LIKE THE RAIN. // MY LARYNX SWOLLEN SHUT. / A MOTH AT THE BACK OF MY MOUTH / COWERING / IN THE DARK. // MONSOON SEASON. / I SOBBED UNTIL I COULD NOT FEEL MY OWN TONGUE. / WHO WAS TO SAY THAT THE WATER WOULD RETURN / TO MY VEINS? // I GILDED MY BODY & STILL / NOTHING MADE ME FEEL ALIVE. / GIRL / OF GOLD. / GIRL / OF GUILT. / BY THE TIME I LOST MY MIDAS TOUCH / I SAW STARS. WALKED INTO THE PIANO PERFECTLY TUNED & SOMETHING IN ME BROKE. // A-MINOR // C-MAJOR // CATS ALWAYS LAND ON THEIR FEET. / MY LIPS WATERLOG INTO INKBLOT. / THE COSMOS GAPING OPEN. / A BLACK HOLE. // EXTINGUISHED STAR. // HE TAUGHT ME ABOUT SUPERNOVA / & NOW IT BITTERS MY TONGUE. // I WISH I HAD SAVED HER. / THE BURNING INEVITABLE. // FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH / PHOENIX & SWAN // SLIPKNOT. ROPE SLACKENING. // REWRITE MY REGRETS / TO DRIFTWOOD IN RIVER CURRENT. // A RINGING MELODY / A SONG FORGOTTEN. // THE BROKEN ABSOLUTION. / ANGELS / TUNED TO SYNCHRONICITY. // SOMEWHERE / CATHEDRAL GLASS SHATTERED. / IN THE ALCOVE / BELLS STILL RANG. //
Ivi Hua (she/her) is an Asian-American writer, dreamer, & poet, with works published/forthcoming in Juven, Polyphony Lit, & The Aurora Journal, among others. A Best of the Net nominee & cofounder of Young Poets Workshops, she believes in the unifying power of writing. You can find her @livia.writes.stories on Instagram.