"Persimmons" by Charlotte Nip

Illustration by cathy xu

Persimmons

we are 

a soft bird

a fruit fly

with no taste

ripe brown-spotted

skin tender to the meat

chew it 

and swallow

winter’s delicacy

the heart

undresses

stomach

shivering 

face naked

forgotten

one night

my ghost

lost

its grip

a sun

inside 

my face

found 

morning

blind

two persimmons

leave my palm.

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Charlotte Nip is a SFU Master of Publishing graduate and lifestyle marketing coordinator at Penguin Random House Canada. She is a diligent social media enthusiast, writer, and poet who has been published on SAD Mag, Ricepaper Magazine, and Thought Catalog. When she is not working, she likes taking the perfect Instagram shot and going through Vancouver to find it. Follow her daily adventures here on Instagram (@charlottenip).

Cathy Xu (they/she) is an emerging Chinese and Canadian storyteller. Their work explores diasporic narratives and knowledge productions, bodies as archives of memory, and modes of BIPOC and queer resistance. In their day to day, they find comfort in pastries, plants, and bodies of water. Follow them on Instagram (@tendercritter).