we suffer each other to have each other a while—

emily allison

after a line from “goodnight” by li-young lee

i took an extra lap around the court on dunbar road to watch you play tennis.
you didn’t see me watching you.
i stood calmly, my hair wiry like the cable wall around the asphalt, throat thick
like it was on sunday, when the costco-bought body of jesus did nothing to fill me up.

in the light, i can see one of your pearl earrings. i want to take it in my mouth,
imagine it was plucked from the ocean’s lips, weathered in the maw of shells & salt-lemon.
your body brings my body pain.
i recall a season where i ached throughout the bareness of my hips, compliments
from you sharp in the oval of my stomach.
there are so many things i am not allowed to say.

Emily Allison is a writer based out of upstate South Carolina. She was the 2020-2021 and the 2021-2022 South Carolina state champion/nationalist for Poetry Out Loud, has been published in Havik Magazine: Homeward for her poem "I Hate Rabbits," and is the creative nonfiction editor for CrashTest Magazine. She just recently won the Jan Bailey Prize and the Poetry Ourselves Award for her poem, “galatea,” and her poetry was featured on the TV show “By the River.” She performed her poetry in the Elevate Showcase and for the Greenville Symphony. She was also a recipient of the 2022 and the 2023 YoungArts award for her poetry. She owes her success to her family, friends, both of her beautiful hometowns, and Dr. Pepper.