a lie’s melody stitches together words that died with hope, when you could only hear the tears staining your surgical gown; memories of when you held me in your arms, and not the other way around; oceans of what ifs, of coughed blood, drowning; fireflies in an open field painting the stars with ephemerality, drifting through wrought-iron cemetery gates as they light the way to you.
Alan Zhong is a young writer currently residing in New Jersey. He is a two-time alumnus of the Kenyon Review Young Writers’ Workshop, and an alumnus of the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio. His work has been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers.
