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Katherine Huang

Sleeping Lotus

                                                             After “采莲 (Cǎi Lián),” Empresses in the Palace soundtrack
For a good place 
to pick water lilies, go to 
the south bank of the river 
between life and infinity. 
See how the sunlight 
sprawls atop the leaves, 
blond on pillows 
with parted lips. 
Tip your fishbowl head 
and spill its memories 
into the milky jade-water, 
where they become 
a pair of orange carp 
chasing each other’s tails.
Perhaps this is what 
the universe looks like 
from the outside 
— twin fires 
swirled into an orb 
by some sinewy-armed god. 
If you see his reflection
replace your own, send 
a cloud-shaped pigeon 
to let the wanderless know. 
Tell them, too, if you spot 
his sister tending the blooms, 
her dark braid draped 
over her shoulder. Look! 
Maybe that’s her right there 
on the canoe, disguised
as a villager’s daughter
in a mist-gray shirt 
and salmon pants rolled up 
to her knees. She flings you 
a flower and her smile 
across flutes of ripples, 
her light hand a water lily. 
Take her gifts and stay 
awhile, won’t you? Stay 
among these sleeping lotuses, 
and let tomorrow slip past you 
like an orange carp.
                                         

​                                               Author's note: “Sleeping lotus” is a literal translation of the Mandarin phrase for “water lily.”

S. Erin Batiste
Katherine Huang is a graduate student in genomics and computational biology at UPenn. Her work has appeared in print/online at Pangyrus, Eclectica, Rattle, Gyroscope Review, and elsewhere. When not writing or sciencing, she enjoys dancing and taking naps. You can find her on Twitter @Katabolical.
Art: Molly Dunham
  
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