Channel

Jessica Liu

Strange rafts quiver 
on the surface of your face. 

There, ripples bob up like air-
dense heads, knocking
each other into oblivion again. 

This channel—open for how long?
Crossing each other in the night,
Laden with crated, festering exports. 

Lacking strength to pry 
your boxes open, I watch from the bank:
its black lip a remote perch,
dampening the crest of each wave.

Water swells wood apart,
a tumorous growth. 

With salt fingers your tears caress
each undecided lattice of planks.

Jessica Liu is a student at Yale University pursuing a double major (B.S.) in Psychology and English in the Creative Writing Concentration (poetry).

ABOUT THE ART | Scraps by Uriel Teague, 2024. Uriel Teague is a student at Yale University.