Photo by iwin
From the third row of the brightly lit conference room, I watch your feet shift back and forth while Andrew lectures next to you. Are you nervous? Your hands wind and unwind the microphone’s cord behind the podium—and then I think about how I know those calloused hands almost as well as mine, and how my curious fingertips have memorized every ebb and flow of your scarred back, and how I could find my way through your cluttered room, even sleepy-eyed in the dark with the crickets humming in the background, and how when you sing in the car, the dips of your voice are as familiar as the roads we grew up on—but then you keep coiling the cable tighter, and I realise that I don’t actually know what, or who, you’re thinking about anymore, or where you got that tattoo snaking up your forearm, or if you still face the wall when you sleep on the mattress we bought together, or if you still argue with God about the future, and now, I’m realising that, maybe, I don’t know you, as my cracking heart cries out, but I do! I do.
Evie Huang is an emerging author of poetry, songs, and more. She was raised in Los Angeles, where she still lives and works. Evie enjoys exploring the human experience in all its gritty, messy, and beautiful nuance. As a proud Chinese American, much of her inspiration stems from other Asian writers and she loves diving deeper into the history and narratives of her people. She is passionate about Asian representation in media and strongly believes in the power of storytelling. Evie’s work has been published in Ekstasis Magazine, Pearl Press, and Foreshadow Magazine. Follow her on Instagram at @jubileespoems.