Rigid Transition
This piece was made as a part of a series I created to help me break the artists block I was experiencing at the time. This series was inspired by the lack of identity I felt in that moment and the growth I actively was facing and struggling with. I hope to return to this series someday, but for now it’s brought my spark back.
Sloane Lopez ‘24
Dear Lenka
Imagine you were here.
Imagine the constellations aligned in your favor.
Bright, glimmering splendor, dancing to the beat of your racing heart.
Imagine little lungs expanding for the first time,
breathing in the air of the earth that was holding its breath just for you.
Imagine your pink fingers, twisting and fighting for warmth,
and the fingers that never got to hold yours.
Imagine your eyes fluttering open under shimmering light.
Imagine the whispers of “I love you” in your little ears.
Imagine you lived it all: years of flesh and soul, like a river, flowing,
eternally bubbling up to the surface forevermore.
Imagine your first breath wasn't final,
doctors swarming, and a mother’s cry so loud even the angles wept,
the angels that could not spare you the gift they gave to eight-billion others.
Instead, your life is carved into cheeks from tears that have never ended, and will never end.
Imagine you lived, your face, your hands, your lungs, not simply a picture and a date.
Imagine the earth. Imagine a release from heaven's clutch,
the heavens I curse every night for not choosing you.
Imagine you, right here right now, incarnate, alive,
just being.
This piece is about my late cousin, Lenka, who died in 2009 just a few moments after she was born. Growing up, I remember learning about her for the first time and working through the emotions and thinking that if things had gone differently, I could have had another family member. This poem has helped me work through my grief, and I hope it can help others if they have experienced a loss similar to mine.