bescherelle
Emily Lu
Originally published in Sine Theta Magazine #19 “HIGH NOON 午”
to be | to swell | to reside | |
---|---|---|---|
Present |
I am you are |
I intend you attend |
I move-in you situate |
Past |
they knew |
they fulfilled |
they lived |
Future |
no one will remember |
we will be terrified |
I will translate |
Conditional |
in some cases, to refuse metaphor is nothing lesser |
if a cavity swells, who is poorer, who dies |
with precise enough instruments, uprooting plantago is easy |
Modified by |
barely |
slowly |
transiently |
Used by |
poets; estuaries; shorelines; teenage Hamlet |
inflammatory cytokines; pop chorus; tide in your hometown |
things that run 24/7 |

EMILY LU is a poet and resident physician. Her first chapbook Night Leaves Nothing New (Baseline Press 2019) was shortlisted for the bpNichol chapbook award.