Some Things Are Unforgettable
Twilight
________________I rise_________like a wave
_________________________________________Rain
_______The road_______a snake________loosening skin
______________________________________________________Rain
_________________________________________________________________A tomb for cars
_____________Two metal doors_____open
______________________________ My______eyes_______search silver mirrors
The Horseman________________gallops_____________________________through my heart
_____________Fingers____without_________fingers____harp my__________lungs
My two legs_________trudge__________________A green mile_______without______flowers
_____________________________The bed
Consumes the room_____________________________________________Consumes my father
___________________Like a half-eaten____merman
_________Bound to a cross_______treading________________wafer-flavor wine
____________________________________________________________Years of living
winter
__________________________________winter
______________________________________________________________winter
_____Grey________black_____white___________________________winter’s heralds
______________________________________________Shivers
Thousands____________of tiny spears______rain_________________________the windows
__________________________________Organs abandon
____________________________________tomorrow
_____A rainstorm
________________The monsoon
_____________________________A river_______________falls over
_____________________________________edges
_________________________________________of my eyes______________Color of salt
The taste of________bitter melon
__________________________A ventilator______________________breathes
____________metallic rasps_____________Prayers
___________________________________________in the cathedral
of my____skull
______________A white lab coat calls my father’s_____________________brain
______________________________________Her fishing expedition_______empty
___________His attic_______remains________________cold
IV lines__________choke me_____________cold
____________The_________weight____of ten suitcases__________on my shoulders
_______________________________________________________________________Vertigo
An__________elliptic moon_______________________spins future
__________________________Oracle eyes__________________________________see
__________________________________________my father
_________at the pier_______waiting_____________for me______________mouth like waves
___________Black soil_________________________The perfume of earthworms
A concrete__________mausoleum__________________________________Mouths mouthing
_______________pleading______________crying
Silence
____________________The Mekong River____tears___________into the Pacific Ocean
_______The Puget Sound_____________The Columbia River_____________My father’s body
____________________is ocean
__________________________Loneliness_________________Freedom
________The songs__________of humpback whales_________________Salmons
________________returning home_______________Night fog__________________The cries
_________________________of an albatross_____________Where is its mate
________A heart monitor______________moans________________The ventilator gasps
like___________an eel on land_________________Blue_________and purple
______trees____________forest_______________on my father’s hands_____and arms
___________The smell of________moldy_____________grief
______________________of ozone______________________of disinfectant
_______________________________O sweet morphine!
______The__________clock_______________is_________________________________jello
Black hands_________________________drag___________time______like an anchor
_____________________________________I am
____________glue___________________________________________Skin
______________________________like glass breaking
______________________________________________________________Canyon eyes
______A black________________ hole_________________my chest
My__________teeth___________________inhale__sharply
My father’s_________________________________________________________________last
______________________________________________________ __________________exhale
________________A mist_________of white____________fireflies
Contributor’s Bio
Alixen (Alix) Pham is the Lead for the Westside Los Angeles chapter of Women Who Submit, a volunteer-run literary organization supporting and nurturing women and non-binary writers. In June 2020, she was named a Brooklyn Poets Fellow. In Fall 2017, she was recipient of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs’ Writer-to-Writer Mentorship Program. In 2016, she received the PEN Center / City of West Hollywood Writing Craft Scholarship in Fiction and Nonfiction. She writes poetry, fiction (flash, short stories and novels), and nonfiction work. She’s also an amazing baker!
