at a family cocktail party
sitting at the adult table
scraping cheese on a saltine
and sipping diet coke
smile at the peel of cow heart
curled on greasy plates
(they speak in malagasy
a heritage i can’t understand)
(so i’m folding my limbs
in the words in-between)
(& grasping for
my broken tongue)
Carina Solis is an African-American writer from Georgia. Her work has been recognized in Teen Ink, Ice Lolly Review, the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the Georgia River of Words, and the New York Times Summer Reading Contest, among others. She is also an editor at Polyphony Lit, an intern at Young Eager Writers, and a mentee at Ellipsis Writing. She is fifteen years old.
Eunoia Review 