Elle Wong
Past Lives
The loneliest things in this world
have never been named--the blister on your foot
the day you buried your father
and your good heels split in the mud, or
the final report papercut circling your thumb
like a ring--never kissed--
and behind your ear, that scar from the bumblebee
at the summer picnic who made you cry
until mom had to drive you home. There are no names
for these purple hurts, a forgotten ocean of them
bleached, collected, and sealed into bone-tight compartments
so that no one will know them, not even you
until a winter nosebleed or rain slick puddle
bring them rushing back, like all your pet rats
and canaries and frozen guinea pigs in the backyard, surrounded
by dirt and worms— just wanting to be named. Just wanting
to be held.
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The first generation child of an immigrant mother, Eliana Rebecca Wong is a native Kentuckian from Lexington and Berea. Transgender, disabled, and a survivor, she writes out of necessity. Elle is currently an English major at Berea College, with plans for a Creative Writing MFA after. A GSA and SCAPA alumni, she has been published in pluck! The Journal of Affrilachian Arts and Culture, and Bigger Than They Appear: Anthology of Very Short Poems.
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