by Ashley Bao
after Townie by Mitski
My careless hands in Carolina heat;
We’re catching firefly lights in summer mist.
Corner my breath and still my heart keeps beat.
We waltz to nineties rock three steps offbeat,
Sing-song along to a mockingbird’s kiss.
My careless hands in Carolina heat.
Warm mornings die too quick, sly sunsets cheat.
Body folds, so I slip my lungs in his.
Corner my breath and still my heart keeps beat.
Crashing through our hometown’s silent side streets
with stifled desires breaking in brand new ribs.
My careless hands in Carolina heat.
Dreamt conversations cycle on repeat:
All the truths we crystallize ourselves in.
Corner my breath and still my heart keeps beat.
The horizon I pretend not to see:
the fractures freckling our intertwined limbs.
Your careful hands in Carolina heat
corner my breath; my heart cannot keep beat.
Ashley Bao is a Chinese-Canadian-American high school senior. Her poetry and short fiction have appeared in Liminality, Strange Horizons, Cast of Wonders, and elsewhere. She may sometimes be found looking at cute cats on Twitter @ashleybaozi.
