by Julia Jin
Art by Cynthia Wang
Issue: Aphelion (Spring 2016)
The sky is blue,
though she blushes
rose
poppy
wisteria
in her cloudy cheeks,
and on her skin,
coal
ash
snow
gather and clear.
From ebony eve to
saffron day,
the sky warms,
flushes,
softens
from shade to shade.
Feel her touch,
tender
in the quiet dawn.
Watch the stars, those freckles,
fade away
with the dusk.
Petals fall and
stems grow bare,
and lovely sky, too,
pales
joyless
simple
empty
blue.