BODY WITHOUT ORGANS
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Nicole Li (17)

creation myth with milk
After Kaveh Akbar

​I.
Nüwa makes the first man out of clay
& milk, & he totters with unsteady legs
& milky eyes towards some unseen light.
act of creation: the earth’s bowels filling
with something white and cool.

II.
the babies are suckling milk. their tiny fists
clenching & kneading open breasts,
flower-like. their bones hardening, stretching,
filling with milk also. the marrow is milk.
they cry sweet & milk tears.

III.
i’m in my room. listening. milk is on
the radio like always, predicting an afternoon
that is slightly cloudy & milk. i smile
& put on my rain boots, which track milk
around the house & are milk themselves

IV.
mother’s ghost drinks milk from the fridge
in the middle of the night just like the white
fat man with pupil-less eyes & a milk mouth
that decides if i am good or not. milk
taps my shingles as i dream of it.

V.
my spine starts dripping onto the sidewalk so
i hold it in place like a wiggly tooth & do a
damn good job i think since no one sees but
then my ribs lungs heart all melt
& i am a puddle of milk

VI.
am i drowning?

            (can i drown in myself?)


​

Why I’ve Never Been to Jiangxi, China

because the countryside was beautiful but selfish / because our backs curved like rice sickles
in the sun / because grandma sold yóu tiáo on the streets every day / because she was content
but he wanted more / because the night flexed menacing fingers / because the mountain roads
were treacherous / because a pig was slaughtered on a dull blade / because a lady chopped her
own arm off / because that lady was my great-aunt / because the birds smoked cigarettes / /
because there was only one train ticket out / because the Cultural Revolution was a
revolution in blood / because a boy pulled himself apart by the bones / because he
painstakingly rebuilt himself / because my father’s ambition outgrew his body​


​

Nicole Li is a recent high school graduate living in Shanghai. Other than writing, she enjoys making lists, discovering new podcasts, and petting other people’s cats. She hopes magic finds you today.

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  • About
  • Issues
    • Issue Fourteen
    • Issue Thirteen
    • Issue Twelve
    • Issue Eleven
    • Issue Ten
    • Issue Nine
    • Issue Eight
    • Issue Seven
    • Issue Six
    • Issue Five
    • Issue Four
    • Issue Three
    • Issue Two
    • Issue One
  • Features
    • Owen Perry
    • Dai “Debby” Shi
    • Miranda Sun
    • Yasmeen Khan
    • Madison Lazenby
    • Natalia Gorecki
    • Narisma
    • Divya Mehrish
    • Anne Gvozdjak
    • Austin Davis
    • Wanda Deglane
    • Helena Pantsis
    • Grace Zhang
    • Grace Novarr
    • Fingertips Feature
    • Mackenzie Cook
    • Eva Vesely
    • Sasha Temerte
    • Jacquelyn Lee
    • Beverly Broca
    • Vivian Parkin DeRosa
  • Blog
  • Contests
  • Submit
  • Masthead