Minnie Wu

Times I Have Shivered

From the dental chair, watching
Dr. Lily turn the mouth mirror
from right to left. Watching a bus
turning from Mountain Avenue
onto Green Street, its flash of yellow
softening the three girls twirling
their white dresses on the corner, teeth
loose & brightening. Watching
Grandpa step on the cat’s tail, bracing
for her whimper. Watching Father’s face
redden, yelling for me to kneel, not
on a red temple mat, but in front
of Grandma, just because I dropped
a glass. Watching it shatter, the pink
scratching the white marble. Watching
December lightning brighten my room, striking
the autumn leaves with light as they fall. Every time
Mother knocks on my bedroom door
to remind me I forgot to turn off
the bathroom faucet, the pipes babbling
infinitely. Catching my childhood
best friend’s gaze in my eyes
on a rainy day, as if to ask, Do you feel
the same way? Every time I am
wrong. Every time I traced his pupils, blue
like a boy’s prized balloon, morning mountain-
pure, rivers weaving through the heart
of the valley—wondering why he was
staring. For weeks & weeks after
his mother called and said suicide.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Minnie Wu is a junior at The Pennington School. Her poetry and prose have been published in SWWIM Every Day, Blue Marble Review, Pennyroyal, Teen Ink and more. She participated in the 2024 Adroit Journal Summer Mentorship Program and won the 2025 YoungArts award in poetry. Outside of writing, Minnie enjoys spending time with her pets and watching K-dramas.