X-Ray (Pneumonia)
by Juna Brothers
*Best viewed on desktop or via PDF
The sky remembers
a path through the
passageways,
a cloudy return.
Remembers
currents contracting
hearts
snapping open & shut—
an orchestra—
structures,
containing
air-stained
black,
windy spaces
only carry
so much
the tracks lightning
leaves, marking
bronchi to follow &
fluid choking
The body
conducting electricity—
a symphony—the way the
muscle, valve
follows the beat
Outlines
Upon waking, sheets drawn
reminder: my arms, it
stormed, the window pane drops
tell me as they slip hope
less, below the best laid
shadows, unresponsive,
it’s late. I watch the door
way. Strangers bring their
backs to watch the window,
tangled firm they attach
meant to sway the curtains
& draw sheets over faces:
by Juna Brothers
Juna (she/her) is a poet from Davis, California. Her poetry received a National Gold Medal from the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers and she was selected as a semifinalist for the National Student Poets Program. An alumna of the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, she worships poets like Louise Glück, Allen Ginsberg, and Natalie Diaz. In her community, she serves as the editor-in-chief of her school’s literary and art magazine, Spoke, and works with elementary students at her local library to write their own stories and poems. Outside of writing, she plays the cello with the Sacramento Youth Symphony and makes elaborate fruit smoothies. You can email her at junabrothers@gmail.com.