"Persimmons" by Charlotte Nip
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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.
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).
