Two Poems
Zoe Shelton
Zoe Shelton
Odocoileus
That was the summer of a hundred deer
Who danced in the night outside the cabin Sticking their tongues out to the bears
That didn’t dare come close to the fire
Such a beautiful place to die
And later dig up the bones
Run your fingers against the jaw
To uncover the age
That the little fawn laid down forever
You laid down in that field that summer
In the height of the day
It was a sickly, sweet hot that made
Your tank top stick to your dumpling midriff That you wished more than anything to hide
But the deer didn’t care about your body
Until you got close enough to nearly grab their tail
And they would leap into the brush that would scrape
Your knees if you tried to follow
Who danced in the night outside the cabin Sticking their tongues out to the bears
That didn’t dare come close to the fire
Such a beautiful place to die
And later dig up the bones
Run your fingers against the jaw
To uncover the age
That the little fawn laid down forever
You laid down in that field that summer
In the height of the day
It was a sickly, sweet hot that made
Your tank top stick to your dumpling midriff That you wished more than anything to hide
But the deer didn’t care about your body
Until you got close enough to nearly grab their tail
And they would leap into the brush that would scrape
Your knees if you tried to follow
Hiroshima
I thought the wind smelled so good,
But it was just me leaning into your heaving shoulder.
Swollen eyes from the atomic bomb site,
The radiation making its way into my evolving gills.
The next day we crawled up the mountain side,
Ignoring primates and quarter sized mosquitoes.
Your shirt soaked through and I lost hold of you,
My hands too preoccupied with my dress in the wind.
When you arrived at the top you were panting,
When you arrived you made my life glow.
But it was just me leaning into your heaving shoulder.
Swollen eyes from the atomic bomb site,
The radiation making its way into my evolving gills.
The next day we crawled up the mountain side,
Ignoring primates and quarter sized mosquitoes.
Your shirt soaked through and I lost hold of you,
My hands too preoccupied with my dress in the wind.
When you arrived at the top you were panting,
When you arrived you made my life glow.
//
Zoe Shelton is a 19 year-old undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia. She hails from the Pacific Northwest, and draws heavily on her experiences as a woman of color and an intensely introspective introvert.
Zoe Shelton is a 19 year-old undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia. She hails from the Pacific Northwest, and draws heavily on her experiences as a woman of color and an intensely introspective introvert.