The science of spinning
The prickle of spiky cucumber skin, freshly
picked from the garden. In the garden,
where Mother hunches over still-green
baby tomatoes, no, where
sunlight hovers over green garden, still-brown
earthworm, yes. Earthworms know where
to find light, and yet they purposefully crawl to nowhere.
We haven’t been to a fair in years, no,
we have a fair to go to today, yes,
yesterday, yes. Dinner first, though.
First we soak the spaghetti noodles yesterday, yes.
Cucumber shredded, no, sliced.
I twirl cold noodles on my fork, no. I twirl
in a pink-ruffled skirt, as we exit
the driveway, stomachs full of green, yes,
and my stomach drives me giddy
imagining candy apples, yes, the promised twirl
of spinning upward on the principle of inertia,
those merry-go-round-gone-sideways rides.
Inertia when my father breaks too quickly,
no, quickly I am behind the wheel, yes.
We’ve driven ourselves out of today, and so it breaks,
tomorrow, yes, I make time my personal science,
and I think there is a science to
how candy apple toppings latch on and fall off of the skin, yes.
The garden hasn’t fallen green in yesterday, no,
in two years now, yes. The sunlight that once fell there
becomes lights of late bonfires here and miles ago,
yes, our lights fill a hall larger than the whole
of my old house. Lights of the fair
blinking in the rearview mirror. Whole months, no, ages I have lived in
spin like apple swirl in caramel, birthdays
only a subtle tick between otherwise smooth ferris wheel spinning.
Years liquefy, no. Years fall like apples into the water. Yes, a barrel
meant for apple bobbing filled with apples and water,
unmoving, still, save for a broken-off stem spinning a slow orbit,
abandoned by fair attendants.
May Zheng is a young poet from Concord, Massachusetts. An alum of the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, Kenyon Young Writers’ Workshop, and GrubStreet’s Teen Summer Writing Fellowship, her work has been recognized by Scholastic Art & Writing Awards and Barnes & Noble. As the founder of Independent School Aid, May advocates for disadvantaged students by teaching them essay-writing skills to build confidence and open up future educational opportunities. She is especially fond of Sichuan cuisine and taking long walks.