Salt leaves by Soheon Rhee
There are snakes everywhere
that hide in the branches of Gomsol,
their hisses dent your window.
Eomma once told you to burn
the tree at night: imagine the
fire hanging on the tips of the leaves
and how it will look like thin confetti.
You see the tree outside
and now the leaves have two holes
like a skull, and grey limbs stack on
the ground.
At dusk, your window turns
into a face and your eyes on the
reflection peel, the ghost in
the room laughs like your mother.
It keeps laughing
so you wish you could use the tree
to build a boat and leave.
Soheon Rhee is a thirteen-year-old student who is currently attending International School of Manila. During her free time, she likes hanging out with her friends and reading books such as “How to Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Her poems have been accepted in Cleaver Magazine, Second Chance Lit, Stone Soup, among others.