Who needs a horror story
when you have facts?
a school bench becomes
a precipice. Imagination
is a drive-by trigger
bulleting the brain which
becomes one of a thousand
shards. Will consent make it alright?
From the right angle, at the right price
forgetting can pose as forgiveness.
I texted you after dying
100 degrees of fear
fingers slipping on the handle
of a jammed window.
Father: gone to store
will not be back
soon. Will it be alright?
when a fact is inevitable
the way heatwave slinks
across the city. School’s out
It’s time to forget everything
we learned.
Charissa Xin Zeigler is enjoying a gap year in Providence, RI. She is an adoptee from Yunnan, China and currently resides in Providence, RI. She received an award for editorial writing at NorCal Media Day, won the Davis’ Constitution Essay Contest in 2018 in the high-school category, and was the EIC of her school’s literary magazine. She enjoys taste-testing soup, wearing sweaters in 100 degree weather, and unapologetically liking U2’s new albums.