Self-Portrait with Entangled Photon I

by Letitia Jiju

Because I existed, I disobeyed. I halved
what I knew: god, touch. No threshold
could govern my hands. Or how far I flung
time from the tusk of tornados, the sacrum
of earthquakes. It isn’t enough to say
I need you. I was gutless,
riding in and out on the arbitrary
star so you wouldn’t see how I longed
to be marveled at. I wanted my madness
to be requited. Like an applause. I wanted, I wanted
what monsoon does to a jackfruit and the rumor
of you undressed me.

Letitia Jiju is interested in the poetry of wave functions, quarks, and the litt le things. Her work appears/is forthcoming in Ninth Letter, Poet Lore, ANMLY, Prism international and elsewhere. She reads fiction for Longleaf Review and poetry for Psaltery & Lyre. Aside from writing, she is an electronics and communications engineer and works in international trade. Find her on Instagram/Twitter @eaturlettuce, Bluesky @letitia.bsky.social.