Stefan Yambao
20 / Ann Arbor, Michigan
A scene from an old film that replays in her head time and time again Hearts beating in brittle cages, syncing with the flickering glow of fireflies. A breath, a beginning, then temperature rise, descent, and capture into the hungry maw of sheets --loop.
Paris 1991 in that fleeting moment between heartbeats je tĂaime becomes je ne sais pas and i'm clutching my chest, feeling you pass me in a dizzying whirlpool of fractured bliss-do all memories disappear like smoke from cigarettes? i'm a god-awful mess, feeling your breathing and breathing you in, hearts strung together-birds of a feather-stitch up my heart with honey and leather (and antlers and gin)-do it again, count stars on my back and do it again. 46