Size / / /
red

Content warning:


leaving the house & my mother tells me

change your dress     she says

it will attract attention         she says

not like other mothers

who worry about bare thighs and catcallers

 

but my dress goes down my calves

has sleeves that can be tugged down my wrists

& my mother still does not want me                 to seek attention

imagine going out in this dress & becoming

a bloody clarion call                     for all the bad things                 to come

a boar-head spirit following my back

while i sway in the wind like a matador’s flag

a long-tongued ghost laps at my silk skirts

until they stick to my shins

as i wait at the bus stop

& watch the faded orange paint chip away

far away             a dog howls

 

my mother     she says         your lipstick is too red

&                         you should throw it out

i have ten of them now         rolled in a drawer

rust & ruby & rose                 cream & velvet & gloss

i paint them on

watch               watch

this scarlet mouth     & my scarlet nails

in a long red dress     i stand at the bus stop                 & i wait



Natalie Wang is a Singaporean poet. She has been published in Fairy Tale Review, Cordite Poetry Review, and Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, amongst others. Her book The Woman Who Turned Into A Vending Machine is a collection of poems on metamorphosis, myth, and womanhood. You can find her at www.nataliewang.me.
Current Issue
18 Nov 2024

Your distress signals are understood
Somehow we’re now Harold Lloyd/Jackie Chan, letting go of the minute hand
It was always a beautiful day on April 22, 1952.
By: Susannah Rand
Podcast read by: Claire McNerney
In this episode of the Strange Horizons Fiction podcast, Michael Ireland presents Little Lila by Susannah Rand, read by Claire McNerney. Subscribe to the Strange Horizons podcast: Spotify
Friday: The 23rd Hero by Rebecca Anne Nguyen 
Issue 11 Nov 2024
Issue 4 Nov 2024
Issue 28 Oct 2024
Issue 21 Oct 2024
By: KT Bryski
Podcast read by: Devin Martin
Issue 14 Oct 2024
Issue 7 Oct 2024
By: Christopher Blake
Podcast read by: Emmie Christie
Issue 30 Sep 2024
Issue 23 Sep 2024
By: LeeAnn Perry
Art by: nino
Issue 16 Sep 2024
Issue 9 Sep 2024
Load More