Jade Yeung
Hippocampus Split
*Note: Content warning—child sexual abuse
in a ritual of trespasses I’ve forgotten
the first trespass before language there’s body
what it remembers when I don’t to survive
there’s willed forgetting what tendons
keep from brain like secrets
fingers all they did point claw
can I ___? can you ___? why don’t you
make any sounds? brother cop asked
questions don’t mean choices I see now
pleasure is loud
in the blood when welcomed
who was she this trammeled baby doll
its rosebud lips agape salt milk
its shunted brain wide plastic eyes
let’s keep this between us
he controls what’s not
his they say protect hide
many narratives
I want
what is mine
once before body split
we discovered a bird’s nest
tucked deep inside he thrust
his hand in
in a ritual of trespasses I’ve forgotten
the first trespass before language there’s body
what it remembers when I don’t to survive
there’s willed forgetting what tendons
keep from brain like secrets
fingers all they did point claw
can I ___? can you ___? why don’t you
make any sounds? brother cop asked
questions don’t mean choices I see now
pleasure is loud
in the blood when welcomed
who was she this trammeled baby doll
its rosebud lips agape salt milk
its shunted brain wide plastic eyes
let’s keep this between us
he controls what’s not
his they say protect hide
many narratives
I want
what is mine
once before body split
we discovered a bird’s nest
tucked deep inside he thrust
his hand in
Biography
Jade Yeung (she/they) is a Toishanese writer from Brooklyn, NY. They have received support from Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Community of Writers, and Fine Arts Work Center. Their writing has appeared in Lammergeier and Indolent Book’s A River Sings series. Currently Jade is pursuing an MFA at Rutgers University-Newark where they’re a Trustees Fellow. Find them on Twitter and IG @jadedisk.
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