ednos
part of me wants to be
frail,
a cracked black feather or
a robin’s eggshell
in the palm of
a giant: i’d be lying if
i said i did not want it.
part of me wants to be
strong,
a giant whose palm, striking,
cracks copper bells
and leathers the hides
of beasts: i’d be lying if
i said i was not a cracked copper bell
or a beast.
at least i can be both.
sometimes, a knell
sings into the ether.
other times,
silence.
a feather across my mouth.
Stephanie Yue Duhem is a 1.5 generation Chinese-American writer and educator living in Jamaica Plain, MA. Her work appears or is forthcoming in PANK, Radar Poetry, and Red Wheelbarrow, which named her a winner of its 2018 contest, judged by Naomi Shihab Nye. She is also the author of a picture book titled Robby and the Ice Cream Truck. She can be found on Instagram and Twitter @academoiselle, or at www.sydpoetry.com
