Jessica Zhao

Mortgage in the Natural Chasm

Before the house tour,
shotgun style,
I park next to a fire hydrant
and a rain plummet
like an apothecary salt shaker
touches me more than
anything ever has.
The furniture is Asiatic or
Icelandic: good dressing
for a wedge salad
says my real estate agent
cleaving an iceberg
clean over the kitchen counter.
I am impressed
but I tell her I need to mull
things over.
Do I want
this growth mark
ascension on the walls?
And the basement,
that stained depression?
Some premise of a pool.
Do I want?
To be spooning wood marrow
in constant sponsor
of hidden life, blooming wood
ear under rafter rot.
What I want
is a blow out, bangs.
For everything to be sold

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Jessica Zhao is a high school junior from Vancouver. She is an alumna of the Iowa Young Writers' Studio and the Adroit Summer Mentorship. When she isn't writing, you can find her going on long walks or listening to Fleetwood Mac.