By Ariel Cheng, IV Form

The William Otis Smith Prize for English Verse: “Vignette”

Editor’s Note: The William Otis Smith Prize for English Verse is given in memory of a member of the Class of 1907 and is awarded to one student, who, in the judgment of the English Department, has submitted the outstanding verse during the past year. 

Vignette

Sand
washing you down (washing
you out) wearing you
like a necklace. I try to lace
rope, a net, a knot
your fingers, twisted. Twisting.

Laughing. A broken fan, cards everywhere,
soap opera murmuring.
In a room with peeling walls
we were honest.

Life will not be easy.
Some semblance of wisdom.
Crinkles of sun
folding your eyes shut.
Okay, I said.

Squid ink fried rice
staining your lips blacker.

Everything of yours blooms
underwater. A sheen of hair, hollow
bone, smears of oil.
Similar enough.
The same nose, the same laugh.

Not enough.
Slivers of light thread
through oyster shells. Bleeding sweet.

(Your smile tickles a pearl.)

Watching wind float down your throat,
I sink deeper into the salt.

Ariel Cheng is a V form boarder from Taipei, Taiwan. She enjoys consuming theoretical neuroscience papers – preferably grilled – with a side of moral philosophy and dark chocolate. An aspiring AI alignment researcher, she hopes to study cognitive science and mathematics in college.