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Amy Wang

before the funeral

​It is the kind of night that makes me want to strip bird bones
into hollow, the kind of night that makes me want to gouge
 
a river out of the cliffside and walk into it with rubbled
pockets. It is the kind of night that makes salt stream in silk
 
banners. The hospital tastes like goodbye. As if you could
swallow down mourning before it even lodges between tongue
 
and teeth. The two of us waiting, inevitable unfurled into the
orange-sweet of tomorrow. My last request; tie me down like a
 
song. Like bare skin and creased paper. As if the space
between throat and spine and breathing could be bent in two.
 
Hours cut through us like tangents, like paper petals folded over.
A hand has been dealt; aces, or maybe not. We peel queen
 
from tongue, jack from pinky, tracking obituaries signed into
existence. Before the funeral; you, shuffling the cards as if you
 
could wash them clean, as if there is anything as gentle as a
winning play. Me, eyes shut, as if there is anything as sweet as
 
reliving this final loss. Forget the cold. Bring a palm up to
clasp, flowers to scatter over a grave. between elegies and
 
mourning hymns, the two of us have had our pick of grief.
Together, we decorate housefires and melt the littlest
 
snowman; winter chill has nothing on coffin and a world
whirring sideways.

Biography

Picture
​Amy Wang (she/her) is a writer from California. She's a prose editor for the Farside Review and a poetry editor for Augment. In her free time, you can find her reading fanfiction. Reach out to her on Twitter at @amyj_wang.
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ISSN 2639-426X
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  • Home
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  • Issues
    • Issue 49
    • Issue 48
    • Issue 47
    • Issue 46
    • Issue 45
    • Issue 44
    • Issue 43
    • Issue 42
    • Issue 41
    • Issue 40
    • Issue 39
    • Issue 38
    • Issue 37
    • Issue 36
    • Issue 35
    • Issue 34
    • Issue 33
    • Issue 32
    • Issue 31
    • Issue 30
    • Issue 29
    • Issue 28
    • Issue 27
    • Issue 26
    • Issue 25
    • Issue 24
    • Issue 23
    • Issue 22
    • Issue 21
    • Issue 20
    • Issue 19
    • Issue 18
    • Serenity
    • Issue 17
    • The Audio Room
    • Issue 16
    • Issue 15
    • Issue 14
    • Play It Again
    • Issue 13
    • Issue 12
    • Issue 11
    • Issue 10
    • Issue 9
    • Issue 8
    • Issue 7
    • Issue 6
    • Hand to Mouth
    • Issue 5
    • Issue 4
    • Issue 3
    • Issue 2
    • Issue 1
  • Submissions