I Want

to be an animal that is different from the one I am. I want
to peer out from glass eyes. I want

to be encased in a warm amber liquid. There’s a
poetry to that. There’s a

Certain kind of weight to words written in Latin. My body
lifts off the ground, light. My body

Dictates the sounds I can make with my mouth. I scream
and squawk and people are attracted for all the wrong reasons. I scream

and my mother says “what were you raised by, wolves?” I wasn’t. I hung
from a treetop and fell off and I’ve been falling ever since. Hang my

heavy bones from the ceiling, one more time. I want
to be an animal.

 

 

About the Poet:
Esther Chen is a poet pursuing her BFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia. More of her work can be found on her website (estherchen.tumblr.com) and in the third upcoming issue of If And Only If.

 

Poetry Breakfast accepts submissions of poetry and poetry related creative non-fiction year-round.  See our Submission Guidelines page for details on submitting your work.

Start your morning with a nourishing poem.  Follow us on  Twitter, Facebook, and  Tumblr,  and enjoy a new poem every morning straight to your feed.