Radian Hong

Future

The fly collides
against the foggy bathroom mirror
over and over, violently—
the way you tap your fake
nails on the desk
during a test that’s too hard
or easy. It’s funny how they measure
our thinking,
as if we were not
animals who can't
keep from tearing at our cuticles
until they bleed. The fly collides
with the force
of a pebble hitting a window.
Your window. Force
equals mass times acceleration.
Does the creature in the mirror know
where it's headed?
The condensation on the mirror contracts
like a fist closing. Closing
on a face. Whose face?
The second hand can’t keep up
with your tap, tap, tap. Hard exoskeleton pinging
against hard glass. Is it frustration
or is it freedom? The fly wants to meet you.
Lands on your lip. Climbs
into your dark, open
throat.
What if that word you say as you
pass me by is the truth,
not another rock tossed
from god knows where?
The mirror
sharpens into focus
and the image is nothing like you.

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Radian Hong is a biracial writer from California. His work has appeared in Diode Poetry Journal, Necessary Fiction, The Coachella Review and other journals and has been recognized by The Poetry Society of the UK.