source
source

Fledgling

I must have been a little thing
—a baby pigeon—
drinking what’s before me
—voices like water, air like smoke—

I must have gathered straws
that could not bend—held strength
in paper that was wet
—built sweat without care—

I must have lost hands
—in wholes and in ripped pockets—

I must have dropped home
in rolled shoulders and unkept hair
—dancing like tangled feet—

I must have slipped from ledges and laps—
down stairs to bathrooms
to women laughing without threat
—stomachs round, mouths open, eyes closed—

I should have nested in their breath

but I must have fallen—
for hand tricks and chewed-up charms
—bad habits, dirt talk, and germs—

or was I tossed—against mirrors that slack
—visions of hips and hindsight and fists—

or dropped—from a no one’s mouth—
to learn the lesson of fall
—or flight—

and should I fly—or should I keep
—falling and eyes and secrets and screams—


 

Photo credit: Saverio Truglia
Photo credit: Saverio Truglia

Jen Huh is an artist, designer, and poet, whose practice focuses on concept development and blending humor, text/typography, fine arts and product design. Jen has earned an MFA Degree in Creative Writing with a concentration in Poetry from the New School and has worked as a teaching artist in the New York public schools. She currently works as the Assistant Director of Advising, guiding students in the BFA programs at Parsons The New School for Design.

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