PRODDING FOR WINGS TO COME
After Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)
Black box expanding
outward & outward.
Every entrance—kaleidoscope.
Small hands, digits on thighs
prodding for wings to come—
save me from this dizzying glow.
At which moment does the departure
push? Forward. Again. Again.
🌠
Sophie, I dreamed again of caught
fire, blue sparks raked through my fingers—
enchantments writhe inside
of me: scorched throat, green
sweat, hair blonde & floating—
scales erupt on my arms, talons
pierce my wrists, the night,
liquid & full of black feathers
stabbing black skies. The doors wait
like open mouths, ready to devour.
Didn’t you say you’d come back
for me? I’m burning, and Calcifer
never rests. Women brush by in lace
& petticoats: they smell delicious.
Maybe Suliman was right about
my selfishness & hunger. Be careful
with my heart, Sophie. If you place it,
flaming, on my tongue, I will swallow it.
I swallowed
star. I coughed
up breeze. I said
they were monsters
without naming myself one.
or naming myself too soon
as someone hideous
not externally, really, just
that same ego again,
that same man who cannot
deal with any imperfection
(because I’m too afraid
that then I have no place
to light others afire, no
rightful place). what a magic
that lets me act such a fool.
what a world I’ve
outgrown just to have others
fill in the gaps for me.
Sophie, you are finally
addressed, at duress,
and the light you separated out
from me, back into me:
what will I do
with that precious, unclaimable,
unobservable gift?
Arah Ko is a writer from Hawai’i and the author of the chapbook ANIMAL LOGIC (Bull City Press 2025). Her work is published or forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Palette Poetry, Ninth Letter, Threepenny Review, and elsewhere. She received her MFA in creative writing from the Ohio State University in 2023 andis a Managing Editor at Surging Tide Magazine and a reader for Frontier Poetry. Catch her at arahko.com.
Eros Livieratos (he/they) received an MFA in creative writing at The Ohio State University. Their poems seek to deconstruct theoretical and systemic frameworks. His poetry, fiction, nonfiction, comics, film scores and hybrid writing can be found in XRAY Lit, Autofocus, Blood Orange Review, Hobart After Dark, and elsewhere. They can be found making harsh noise & screaming in your local basement.
Maya McOmie is a biracial/queer writer with connections to Ohio, the West Coast, and Tokyo, Japan. She holds an MFA in Poetry from the Ohio State University; her work has appeared in Red Rock Review,MAYDAY, and Gulf Stream Magazine, among others. Lately, she has been sleeping in and hanging out with her cousin’s cat. Her poems attempt to process the complexities of identity, family, memory and ritual. You can find her on Twitter @MayaMcOmie and at mayamcomie.com.
