BODY WITHOUT ORGANS
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Lydia Bae (17)

​Orpheus

The living do not live in this town. Underneath the terrible, circling cries of ravens and magpies, phantom lungs breathe flurried scraps of cartilage and burnt nails. I loved you the way I loved my own heart. I skewered the blackbirds nesting in your star-dusted skull with cyanide gorged daggers. I painted your open throat in bright, mercuried colors to keep the scavengers away. When stars ravaged pewter arcs across the sky, I wrapped a plastic tarp over each narrow bone of your ribcage and mangled my wayward frame as to fit within the hollow. By the morning, a dozen apple seeds had rooted themselves into my scalp. I traced each protrusion, buried their sharpened edges deeper into my skin, darkened purpling bruises to blood. God, I hope this is enough. You tithed an ounce of flesh in payment for my escape. When each step uncovered a flurry of ashes, when I became indistinguishable from the littered corpses, I lacerated cords of my throat, three brief strokes. I sank to the ground. Through each hour of the night, I watched as yesterday’s seeds grew to saplings, roots hooking on earth. Their branches bound my broken throat, enfolded my swollen fingers, grew a net to swallow my mouth. Oh, my love. What we could have had in another life. 



​Lydia Bae is a high school senior in Bellevue, Washington. She writes primarily poetry. Her writing has previously been recognized in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, The Foredge Review, and The Apprentice Writer.
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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