Splinter, shatter, like light

Splinter, shatter, like light

Naomi Kim

Would that I could be
Like the saints framed in fractals
Of glass & light.
Would that I, too, could cast quiet
Colors upon the cathedral floor.

Worn is the wood of the old pew,
Worn too the old words said again & again.
Wooden is this heart of mine, the half-believed
Creed an unyielding splinter
Lodged in my finger.

Would that I would want.
Would that your name
Would shatter upon my lips,
Shatter, like a bursting pane,
Shatter, like shards of light.

---

Naomi Kim
Writer & PhD Student

Naomi's work has previously appeared in Lunch Ticket, MoonPark Review, Patheos, Neologism, and other journals. Currently based in the Midwest, she is a third-year PhD student in English literature. 

Photography by Jakub Pierozynski