today i walked outside and saw
orange walled sky
like the desert had thrown its skirts
on the ceiling and the walls
i breathe deep
(for it is like this every morning)
i think the orange is searing my lungs
coloring it the same as the expanse above me
heavy as a body
it sinks
(or perhaps it is I who sinks)
i think if i think hard enough
stare long enough
i can make beauty out of this —
this orange plumed Sky with its blood-inked sun
its matching twin peeking out at night
like a blue moon but better because
orange is unmentioned and should therefore be rarer
until there is a scratch within my throat
i cough.
saliva. sticky. phlegm.
i rush inside.
Ailun Shi recently withdrew from UC Berkeley in order to take a gap year to go on the adventure of her life. Her work has been nationally recognized by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards and published in Helen: a literary magazine, Germ Magazine, the Apprentice Writer, and more. She’s an avid novelist and calligrapher. Her gap adventures can be found on ailunshi.wordpress.com.