HANNAH SMITH-YEN

ready set go

I am thirteen and I am ready to die
She is or isn't real and I can't speak Korean. 
I can't read Korean, I can't write Korean, and she is isn't real. 
She's slipping away, whisper shouting, help. 
Sibilance sliding over serpents.
Jubilee birds fly in the sky, flower petals drowning orchids in
Bloom dew, dawn rain. The lake is clear and still, reflections 
and refractions. Loveliness, trapped in liquid silk. Poisoned coffee
Blood trickling down the bear-man's face. He didn't eat the berries, you
You ate the berries. Your mouth is stained purple and your fingertips are bruised.
Is the rope strong enough?

Hannah Smith-Yen is a British-Taiwanese anthropology student currently living in London. She has been published in Persephone's Daughter.