Issue 5.1
Winter 2025
Asia Franklin
Reflection
I wrote this with that sense of hedonism I spoke of in the piece itself. It allowed me the space to speed up the words a little in the way you read or say it aloud. I hope it carries that feeling. I hope you feel with your heart which words to move the pace on.
Soon Enough will be Enough
I moved deeper into the night,
the elixir of your voice carrying me
the whole way through.
Promising everything in exchange for everything.
My name knelt inside me.
Not the one my mother gave me,
the one I chose, the one you chose,
the one you called me before you said I love you.
My favorite word is hedonism,
the way it rolls off my tongue,
and I say it over
and over and over
and over and over
and over, because I want to.
A treadmill of words,
of fantasies.
Like everything I did so you’d want me.
Save for, abandoning my body
so you could walk around me in circles,
laughing at me, pointing at me, punching at me,
telling your friends about it just to do it again.
Your shrugs are a fallacy in a long line of people
waiting for me to touch them.
How soon is too soon?
When do I leave my body and know that I’m coming back? This speed isn’t enough, and what a shame
it is to be alive.
Let alone, again.
Asia Franklin (they/them) is a writer from Texas. They have work in New Words Press and Parley lit. They are an undergraduate studying philosophy and creative writing.
Asia's Book Recommendations
Ponyboy by Eliot Duncan
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
Bellies by Nicola Dinan