Two Poems by Emily Van Houten
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Even if you own your face I can write about it –
whatever curvature your nasal shadow makes
or twitch an eyelash stab provokes
I witness it and if blue-gray-green streaked eyes
mirror it or me then
it is for a page to look at too.
Lashes clasping each other
he and I got to talking
through chin twitches or lip curls
even when he didn’t mean it.
My own Mr Endon had the purity
of an Agnus I knew once
no barriers, a god who found a reason
to crack knuckles himself,
to tug a dry nose and leave
the star-making to his ghost.
*
Do you like the way i look?
do you like the way i look? absolutely fetching
does we mean us? rather so love
don’t hurt or hurt ****please
or hurt me
or hurt we
a draft really starts in crayon these days
or pixels of bright element
some wall (should have been a book) is colored
with the best work i ever did
regression is a sponge you took
to erase or to take in
Emily Van Houten is a writer currently living in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Previous work has been published in The Makeshift Review, Off the Page, and Ex Medio.
Karen Pang was born and raised in Mauritius. She is currently transiting between Mauritius and Shanghai, specializing in both fashion and lifestyle photography. In search for authenticity and individuality, she draws inspiration from her island’s nature and people through her personal work.
