a daughter's effigy

Alexandra Hechimi | Poetry

& you leave me frozen

hands stunned still, fingers leaden

reaching,             reaching,

forging silhouettes in your holy image &

scattering hyacinth husks

i build a violet wake, trampled,

[a battered rite]

& craft memories from

dust, from vicious void

i etch you into my dreams by day &

pry you out by night, cuticles weeping,

clawing at foreign flesh, invasions

always seeping, deeper             deeper & i

know, have always known, that you are

far, too far, always 

with you, my surrogate love, i 

plead, i plead because you are

& because you are gone & because i cannot plead

to the taut plains of your back any

longer & so i beg, i beg while i must,

/stay/

i beg until you, too, 

can be discarded, discovered

& made anew

Alexandra Saida Hechimi (she/her) is a trilingual Wellesley College student who strongly believes in the healing power of creation (and sugary coffee). She loves iced caramel macchiatos, writing at midnight, and listening to music. If she isn’t painting, you can find her planning her next Halloween costume eleven months in advance. Her work has been published in Moonflake Press, Fulminare Review, The Lunar Journal, Sage Cigarettes Magazine, and more.