After Ocean Vuong’s “Prayer for the Newly Damned” Dearest Mother, what becomes of the girl no longer a girl? The stretch marks from my once breasts have migrated to their new tectonic flats. But you can always find hints of what used to be. Trust me, it is more beautiful this way, to look closely at my body and name it things like: Pangea & history & so, so warm. Look at me now and you’ll see how blood faithfully takes the shape of its body, never asking too many questions. Dearest Mother, how many rivers did I run across your belly? Do you love that they will never dry up? Dearest Mother, I’ll make all this water worth it.
Copyright © 2018 by Kayleb Rae Candrilli. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on January 18, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets.