LITURGY FOR WHAT REMAINS

Alexis Wu

after Ivi Hua

For what it’s worth, I crave maraschino at twilight
sometimes, sweet on my gums. The raindrops look like
stars from inside my car. The sky is dark & I feel
so small. I’m drinking beer like benediction, just like you
always said I would. Believe me, my world shrinks when
the mourning dove calls, whispering eulogy. &
I am still here, drenched in daylight. I am still
trying to forget the glint in your eyes that I’ve
kept hidden in the marrow of my bones. I’m sorry.
They’ll dig me up & I’ll be gone & rusted into dirt the color
of your eyes. I’m yours, baby.‘Till hell freezes, baby, I’m—
there’s the air conditioner, cold breath on my neck.
There’s my breath: coming in pairs, heartbeats.
I still love you, for what it’s worth. For what it’s worth,
I still hold lies between my teeth like cigarettes,
lit & relit to pieces. You know I’m no stranger to woe
but sometimes it makes its way down the wetness
of my cheek. Let yearning be my only crime.
Let the aftermath of you be the loveliest part of me.

Alexis Wu is a fourteen-year-old Chinese-American poet based in Long Island, NY. She co-authored Under the Deep, a poetry collection that explores society, selfhood, and truth. Her work is published/forthcoming in Commuter Lit, Yin Literary, and Aorta Literary Magazine. She is also Newsletter Coordinator at Write Cause and editor-in-chief of her school literary magazine. She lives for musicals and magic. She should probably stop romanticizing her life and start living it—but where's the fun in that? Find her on Instagram @a.w.underthedeep.poetry.