Hilary Tam
Domino effect
Watch closely: My hands and your hands and our hands in their hands
All searching for something, the something not yet defined,
Grasping for each other in the fissures. Collapsing into each other’s
Humanness. Inevitable collision. Cosmic Injury. The ground cradling
Our necks. Tired eyes still parallel to the sun. We trade blames
As currency, as if the explosion didn't hurl us from our feet
Because we lit the match. Over a plate of charred cookies, my mother tells me
All things happen for a reason. So I spend my years looking for bottles
To break, grandeur I can set into motion. I scream into my palms to see
How much violence starts at my fingertips. These days, I don’t know
Whether to classify empowerment as how many glasses I can shatter
Or how many times I plummet into folded arms. A trust fall: Two players
But no one to catch our backs. Look, here we are facing each other
Like dominoes: Erected just so we can fall, our limbs pressed to dust carpets
As if surrender is something holy for us to worship. Behind and after us
We leave a trail of bodies, a curvature of gnashing teeth and quivering jawbone
Whose names we will never know. Hellos and goodbyes and how-are-yous
Cushioning each other like a platter of bones. And you know we’ll leave unwritten
Poems in our wake because we were always one for dramatic exits. Maybe
It’s as simple as that: A story left unwhispered, forget-me-nots carried away
By our exhales and before you know it we are afraid of beauty,
Flowers angled towards our necks like violet knives.
All searching for something, the something not yet defined,
Grasping for each other in the fissures. Collapsing into each other’s
Humanness. Inevitable collision. Cosmic Injury. The ground cradling
Our necks. Tired eyes still parallel to the sun. We trade blames
As currency, as if the explosion didn't hurl us from our feet
Because we lit the match. Over a plate of charred cookies, my mother tells me
All things happen for a reason. So I spend my years looking for bottles
To break, grandeur I can set into motion. I scream into my palms to see
How much violence starts at my fingertips. These days, I don’t know
Whether to classify empowerment as how many glasses I can shatter
Or how many times I plummet into folded arms. A trust fall: Two players
But no one to catch our backs. Look, here we are facing each other
Like dominoes: Erected just so we can fall, our limbs pressed to dust carpets
As if surrender is something holy for us to worship. Behind and after us
We leave a trail of bodies, a curvature of gnashing teeth and quivering jawbone
Whose names we will never know. Hellos and goodbyes and how-are-yous
Cushioning each other like a platter of bones. And you know we’ll leave unwritten
Poems in our wake because we were always one for dramatic exits. Maybe
It’s as simple as that: A story left unwhispered, forget-me-nots carried away
By our exhales and before you know it we are afraid of beauty,
Flowers angled towards our necks like violet knives.
Biography
Hilary Tam (she/her) is a student and sandwich enthusiast from Hong Kong. Her work appears in Wine Cellar Press, The Lumiere Review, Fahmidan Journal, Celestite Poetry and more. She can be found playing duotrigordle at ungodly hours or taking long walks. She is on Twitter @hiilarytam.
