after Chen Chen
I
I promptly cut off all contact with my siblings as they
were all minors and I did not want to risk prison time.
My exit out of their lives was quite the dramatic one;
I left to my bedroom in tears just so I could play Overwatch.
It was no fun playing without my brother, but I made it work,
as an adult of my calibre is supposed to do.
II
My mother and I got into an argument and she said
she would slap me so I said I would do it back.
She got mad and called the police on me. Luckily I got away scot-free
by making a puppy dog face and telling them I was thirteen.
Unfortunately, my mother got away with it too. I personally
wouldn’t have let her threaten a minor, but whatever, I guess.
III
I had graduated from university
and was suddenly in charge of the light bill.
Never mind that it took seventy percent of my income, but also
never mind that I was still living with my mother.
Rent was high these days, you know,
and no rich man was willing to marry me just yet.
IV
I was already fifty years old.
I had started drafting my will, and it had been going well so far.
My sister was going to inherit my Junji Ito
manga collection, and—that was it, actually.
I mean, I guess my brother could get my PC too, or however
else this writing a will thing was supposed to work.
V
Six months after I had turned eighteen, I was on my deathbed.
My mother said, “Oh, they grow up so fast.”
An older woman that I didn’t recognise was telling me
about how she used to change my diapers as a child.
My mother said she was a friend of a friend, but
I was only wondering how she was still alive at that age.
VI
I never did talk to my siblings again; they were all
minors and I did not want to risk missing them.
My time had come and I had to leave,
so I waved goodbye to my family and departed.
And when I stepped into the plane, I flew off into the sunset
and landed on the other side of all grown up.
Anaale Camynta-Baezie is a current undergraduate with majors in Psychology & Cognitive Science.
Camynta-Baezie says about the piece: “The form of the poem came to me before the content did; I only knew I wanted to write something lighthearted and comedic. This was definitely more of an ‘I’ll go where it takes me’ piece, and I think it turned out quite fine.”
“Ophelia with a Blue Wimple in the Water”, Odilon Redon (1905).