I wait by the sea because
my partner is nowhere—the
sand engulfs this city.
It is neither liquid nor solid. It is beyond.
Civilizations eroded. Waves knocked the
life out of me. No dreams, just a shore-
line to etch the names of lost lovers. “Is
my soulmate still alive?” No
picking petals. Time is longer
now. Bones are buried where
flowers used to be. We
loved the wrong green. I left
faith in the temple. Fuck it.
Chanlee Luu is a Vietnamese-Chinese American writer from southern Virginia currently working towards an MFA in creative writing at Hollins University. She received her BS in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia. She writes about identity, pop culture, science, politics, and everything in between. She can be found on Twitter @ChanleeLuu, and her work can be found in Free the Verse, Snowflake Magazine, the gamut mag, Cutbow Quarterly, & Tint Journal.
