You’re so beautiful
the contours of your back

the dimples of your cheeks

the space between your teeth

and at once i knew I wasM A G N I F I C E N T

the air flushed in << <<
from the
out(side)

y o u a r e m y f a v o r i t e p a r t o f

b e i n g a l i v e .

i learned to hum to avoid the sound

i realized i like

following you around

let’s be honest, i’ve never been able to write about

you

my world cannot contain you

cannot compress you

cannot put you into words

Y O U

will

always

be a gradual

ascent into what i’ve wanted

that stood just far enough out of my grasp

to make me stare

into the

air

[                                                                                                                  ]

space

i’ve forgotten how this works  | it lost sense,
some sentiment
the parts are missing  |                  the words
lose meaning
the fragments  |                                         the form is ___

Shanna Holako is a third-year student in the English program at the University of California at Berkeley.
She can be reached at shannaholako@gmail.com