Breaking the Pulp for the Better: Emi, Jackie

April 7, 2020 Kate Belew with Emi, Jackie (New York City)

Sitting five stories tall above this stacked city

I now know that I am a strange bird.

My mother used to split grapefruit in the morning 

with fingers delicate and precise, I am not 

my mother but I am 

breaking the pulp for the better, I believe

in jazz and the accent of an off-beat

feather that splits the wind above distant street. 

I am counting the price tags in my medicine cabinet 

taking inventory of trauma and truth requires 

a steady hand.