OLYMPIAN'S GHAZAL
Cici Zhang—California, United States
& lightning cradles You. Heat blossoms
through barren Crete. In its reflection are thunder
-dark eyes. A crown of olive juts
into carpeted scalp. You thunder
into brusque parades; rain seizes
at Your command. Thunder
heralds a monsoon of pedestrians. Their legs
churn. Everybody is mud-soaked & craves thunder
for a throat. Like oranges,
the days unpeel; thunder
unbuttons Crete’s waistcoat of cypress.
Parched, I scour thunder
from irrigated deserts,
begging You to relinquish Your thunder
-heavy nights. July wilts into August;
like wine, You drink thunder
& stifle our lamb-weak,
unyielding cries. Thunder
stills the body of Crete. Your people
grow pitchforked & angry. Augurs thunder
bare-soled through villages,
a cacophony of thunder.
Cici Zhang is an Asian-American poet residing in Palo Alto, California. She has been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers; her work appears or is forthcoming in wildness and The Shore. Cici is an alum of the Adroit Journal’s Summer Mentorship Program and the Sunhouse Mentorship. When she isn't writing, you can find her listening to various iterations of indie-pop.