Issue 4.2
Summer 2024
Hannah Lee
Reflection
This poem was a challenge I gave myself—to research a single object—and I found myself borrowing scientific language, which produced interesting results in a poetic space. The form came second but still intentional—and I swear it looks like an orange peel only by coincidence.
Orange
I long to
become an orange\eating
sun rays in hopes\of
sweetening my segments\juice vesicles wrapped\in layers underneath\the flavedo\a noun\the way
an orange is not\a mandarin and the hearts\of friends do not resemble\that of lovers\albedo\th
e inner\lining
the pith\of the fruit\that is discarded\becau
se it is anything but\contains\not
hing but whiteness\leavi ng the chlorophyll\as I greedily drink\your light hoping\it will paint over\my green with carotene\and xanthophyll\but in fear\that it will never mature\I eat the sour fruit whole
Hannah's Book Recommendations
A Cruelty Special to Our Species by Emily Jungmin Yoon
Ward Toward by Cindy Juyoung Ok
When I Grow Up I Want to be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen
Hannah Lee is a NYC Korean-American poet who processes her world through poetry. She is author of On the Other Side of the Magpie (Ghostbird Press, 2024) and the 2023 winner of The Birdhouse Prize. Her work has been featured in Encounters Magazine. She is a graduate from the Queens College MFA program and was an editor at Armstrong Literary.