Shirley Xu '23
UNTITLED, KATELYN WANG '23
The Ones that Turn their Back on the World
Shirley Xu '23
The Ostrich
babyless, exhausted, lachrymose eyes
buries her head in the sand,
blundering over her trembling legs
knobbled knees crooked
doubled over like the back of the vendor selling her eggs for a hundo’ each
in the exotic creature market
The Ostrich turns her back on the world.
The Cat
with no food and no parents
rustles his dirty mane onto the ground full of shadows
he hides under his dirt wrangled tail
as metal prongs clink from behind him
as the cold bars hit his neck
he’s thrown on a cart bound eastward--
the pound--
The Cat turns his back on the world.
The Snail
slow as she may be
looks up to the stormbrewing sky
admiring miniscule droplets on the floor
she begins seizes agonizingly as a toddler
(giggling)
sprinkles salt onto her flesh
she retreats back into her humble paper-thin shelter
The Snail turns her back on the world
The Caterpillar
is ugly and hides in his cacoon
he weeps in his blanket
knowing that when he peeks his eyes on a hopeful world once more
a man in gloves will shred everything
for silk
and money
The Caterpillar turns his back on the world
The Man
we’re the monsters that
can't.
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