pangu in the egg yolk
Sophie Lin
Naperville, IL, USA
Neuqua Valley High School
Poetry
pangu in the egg yolk
half-submerged in an nameless ocean are
irises sliced by a thousand papercuts
dirty yuan with square slits.
a blessing, a hope, a seduction
in disguise.
under the drip of a cheap lantern
she studies literature from foreign lands,
kisses things that don’t matter.
nietzsche. mizu kiri. fin de siècle.
where did the swallow called muse go?
it’s roosted on my windowsill
warbling heaven’s song to itself,
je ne sais quoi.
yes,
go on.
turn your face sideways to notice
the way perches catch the light,
human hearts swallow stones:
your breath, it’s the sweeping wind
your voice, the rolling thunder
your muscles
all mountain folds
in the beginning,
people stifle love growing in the dirt,
massacres break out like rashes.
in the end.
we all drift into black holes
moulins and rich constellations,
waiting to be cracked open.
please.
mon amour
help
lift pangu from the egg yolk,
liberate this aching universe from
my heart.
EDITORIAL PRAISE
I specifically liked the lines “human hearts swallow stones,” “liberate this aching universe from my heart,” and “massacres break out like rashes.” This constant thread of human love and existentialism is masterfully done. I love how (the author takes) the reader back to “the beginning”—what did love look like then? What did the universe look like then?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR