Precious

I could be a nun
I could be a priest
I could be a woman who lives and dies in her wedding dress
forever left at the altar
Miss Havisham
cobwebs down there
and everywhere
I could keep eucharist real
and wet
like a clarinet reed
not just some symbol
I could make no action
feel like climbing the highest mountain
air so thin
it gets you high
Tripping, falling, with your head in the stratus
I could be hot
so hot it’s clean
Charcoal
Purifying
Lava
at the base of a live volcano
cooling solid
smooth and shiny
a church pew
The Platonic chair
Perfectly practical
I could light the candle
and blow it out every night
I could take care of You
and me
I could keep Your place palatial
and every metal thing polished
and precious

Prisca Afantchao (they/she) studies International Relations and Philosophy at Hampshire College. Prisca’s work was recognized in the finals of the Pulitzer Center’s 2019 Fighting Words Contest. Three of her poems were published in the 2020 Youth Speaks anthology, “Between My Body and the Air.” Prisca was the Connecticut state champion of the first annual Poetry Ourselves competition. Their poetry has also been published by The Offing.