ScholarWorks @ SeattleU (Seattle University)

Le, Annika

Fragments 
Volume 63 Pivot Article 19 
2021 
Polydipsia 
Annika Le 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments 
Recommended Citation 
Le, Annika (2021) "Polydipsia," Fragments: Vol. 63, Article 19. 
Available at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol63/iss1/19 
This Poetry is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. It has been accepted for 
inclusion in Fragments by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. 
 
POLYDIPSIA 
Annika Le 
 
 
Vietnamese words taste  
pickled in my mouth– 
saliva pools out from glands like  
rain gutters in a Saigon monsoon 
 
When I attempt to backbend  
my tongue into unfamiliar tones, 
my grandmother’s forehead furls  
into a question mark, and the  
uncles burst into contractions of  
synchronized laughter 
 
To me, the glyphs on letters look like  
ranges of mountains or falling tides  
that mimic the moon’s loop– they taste  
meaningless against my teeth 
 
On the Lunar holiday, we must wish  
New Year blessings in Vietnamese 
before she bestows the lucky red parcels– 
they sit under her elbow and  
against her ribs like armor:   
 
Chúc mừng năm mới 
1
Le: Polydipsia
Published by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU, 2021
 
What leaves my lips is a windstorm  
of whispers, misspelled mush,  
a lotus flower without its seeds,  
my jaw now severed like  
the lost string of a guitar  
 
Again, the contractions of  
laughter, this time from the aunts  
and cousins, too– it descends  
from lips and pools on the tile 
 
I grab a sponge from the belly  
of the kitchen sink, and attempt  
to extract my mispronunciations  
from the floorboards 
 
2
Fragments, Vol. 63 [2021], Art. 19
https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol63/iss1/19


English

Polydipsia

Fragments 
Volume 63 Pivot Article 17 
2021 
Magnolia Tree 
Annika Le 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments 
Recommended Citation 
Le, Annika (2021) "Magnolia Tree," Fragments: Vol. 63, Article 17. 
Available at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol63/iss1/17 
This Poetry is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. It has been accepted for 
inclusion in Fragments by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. 
MAGNOLIA TREE 
Annika Le 
 
 
 
 
 
i. i’ve been watching  
the magnolia buds 
 
shaped like  
rubber torpedo pool toys 
 
fuchsia kernels  
ready to burst 
 
 
ii. yesterday 
a hailstorm loosened them 
 
petals now  
half-husked 
 
 
iii. they have  
unclenched  
their pink fists 
1
Le: Magnolia Tree
Published by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU, 2021
 
palms open  
to skies 
 
 
iv. petals pepper 
the sidewalk 
 
only a few remain  
on branches  
like loose teeth 
 
 
v. several buds  
never bloomed  
at all 
2
Fragments, Vol. 63 [2021], Art. 17
https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol63/iss1/17


Magnolia Tree

Bonow, Lila

Fragments 
Volume 63 Pivot Article 26 
2021 
Synesthesia 
Lila Bonow 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments 
Recommended Citation 
Bonow, Lila (2021) "Synesthesia," Fragments: Vol. 63, Article 26. 
Available at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol63/iss1/26 
This Poetry is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. It has been accepted for 
inclusion in Fragments by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. 
Synesthesia 
Lila Bonow 
 
It sends 
a  
lightening-rod 
chill  
down 
my  
spine  
to think: 
before the roaring-orange 
lion-head  
phantasm 
of you 
I  
was a simple  
fool. 
A blind 
knight  
jousting 
horseback, 
who thought 
Tuesdays 
could be 
mauve.  
1
Bonow: Synesthesia
Published by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU, 2021


Synesthesia

Leone, Shelby Joy

Fragments 
Volume 63 Pivot Article 33 
2021 
Prayer for a Bedside Table 
Shelby Joy Leone 
Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments 
Recommended Citation 
Leone, Shelby Joy (2021) "Prayer for a Bedside Table," Fragments: Vol. 63, Article 33. 
Available at: https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol63/iss1/33 
This Poetry is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. It has been accepted for 
inclusion in Fragments by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks @ SeattleU. 
PRAYER FOR A BEDSIDE TABLE 
Shelby Joy Leone 
 
 
 
BED 
MY BED IS AN ALTAR I MAKE FOR MYSELF AND PRAY TO REGULARLY 
I MAKE SMALL OFFERINGS OF ENCOUNTERS AND LEAVE GOLD  
LEAFED CONDOM WRAPPERS OUT AS PENANCE   
MY HANDS WRAPPED IN PRAYER AROUND YOU AND I   
HOLLOW BE THY NAME 
BY KINGDOM CUM 
THY WILL BE DONE 
MY HANDS WRAPPED IN PRAYER AS I SING CONTRITION  
 
 
HANDS 
MY HANDS WHICH USED TO GRAZE YOUR HAIR 
DOWN YOUR BELLY  
PICKING AT FOLLICLES AND MOLES 
UNTIL IT REACHED WHAT I WISH I HAD 
STILL HAD 
WHAT I WISHED TO CONSUME 
TO BE FILLED BY  
MY HANDS ARE EMPTY NOW, AS AM I   
1
Leone: Prayer for a Bedside Table
Published by ScholarWorks @ SeattleU, 2021
SWITCHING OFF EACH LIGHT UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING BUT THE  
BLUE  
OF A ROOM WITH NO ONE IN IT 
NO ONE LIES INSIDE ME NOW, THE LIGHTS ARE OFF 
 
 
BODY 
MY BODY LIES HUMMING, WHIRRING 
GLORIOUS AND NOT YET DEAD 
STOP THAT HEAD, THIS IS NOT YOUR LINE 
IT’S MINE, AND I HAVE IT GRACIOUSLY 
THERE IS NO RESOLUTION, NO SOLUTION 
REVELATIONS OF THE BODY AND ON THE BODY  
WHERE IS MY BODY? ANY BODY? 
ENBY BODY YOU NEVER SAW ME AS I WAS   
YOU HAND ME THE PLASTIC COCK AND I GO NUMB 
ALL THIS WRITING ABOUT PUSSIES AND DICKS  
AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT 
I COWER AT THE SIGHT 
I CURL, I WINCE 
YOU’VE CAUGHT ME IN THE ACT 
I AM NOT AS BIG DICKED AS I SEEM 
AND YOUR MOCK COCK 
LIES BESIDE ME.  
2
Fragments, Vol. 63 [2021], Art. 33
https://scholarworks.seattleu.edu/fragments/vol63/iss1/33


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