Four hundred pounds per square inch

down on my right wrist.

It tore through my skin and flesh

breaking my bones.

Ripped tissues and muscles lay

on shredded ice. Dread 

sprayed in red graffiti– 

splattering beyond the snow,

flying amidst the skift.  

Instead of saving myself, 

I laid down carefully explaining 

to the wolf why I don’t deserve 

such pain and why what it did 

was hurtful as my blood dribbles down,

absorbed into the white canvas.

You dis-

appeared 

into 

the snow. 

Written by Vanessa Li. Edited by Yiyang Cao. Published on 20/8/23. Header image by Emma Li.