poetry by sarah-marissa marquez

To the face in the mirror

After Victoria Chang

Yesterday, I saw the mockingbird
perched on a branch of the lemon tree. 
It looked uneasy. I understood not to approach.
To pretend there were no yellow lemons
and I did not come to collect. 

Today, I watch myself undress 
in the mirror. I no longer look like 
a woman you wait a year for. 
I am what I coveted:
sturdy bones. 

The coldest day of the week

you pick me up and I forget to bring a sweater. I will ask you later for the puffer jacket 
in the backseat to cover my lap. You keep it for me, and the heater on my side turned up 
to 76 degrees. Driving anywhere with me is long. This time, two hours to an apple orchard 
in Oak Glen. You’ve never been, but I am returning for a $20.00 bag of Stayman Winesaps. 
I settle in, a regular passenger princess. I tuck my hands under my thighs and look out of the
window at blue mountains waiting for a layer of smog to lift or drop. Clusters of yellow cassia
blooms swaying in the autumn wind, whispering to each other in the secret way of wildflowers. 
I see buildings and more buildings, but no trees for a murder of crows. When do they rest 
their wings? I want to stretch out my arms and offer my bones to become branches, a sturdy
shelf to land on. You want to exchange news. You tell me your neighbor is having his wedding at
the end of May. We will go together, or you won’t. You don’t wait for me to understand 
but turn the radio on to a classic rock station, and I must resist speaking no and relax my tongue.
Keep my hands under my thighs. Ignore the rope in my stomach snapping, snapping. There is 
no excuse for the unworn dress in my closet, but I am not made for it, dainty white lace, 
the dancing floor, and no one knows it is there.  

Sarah-Marissa Marquez (she/her) is an MLIS student at San Jose State University. She is based in Los Angeles and has work published and forthcoming in various magazines and journals, including Capsule Stories, Human/Kind Press, Kissing Dynamite, Mud Season Review, Salamander, SHIFT, The Hellebore, and The New Southern Fugitives. When not writing, she can be found reading, sipping coffee, or tweeting @Sarahmarissa338.