Onassa Sun

Telescope - Honorable Mention (Grades 11 -12)

Distance: 3125 feet
Even from my distance
I could see she was

beautfl.

Pure black hair against skin
like the inside of

an eggshell.

Golden dragons snaked up her red qípáo,
winding tightly around her doe’s neck
like a silk

noose.

Her dress was red
like xuè.
Like blood.
This much I could tell from the telescope
at the top of the observatory.
—
Distance: 625 feet
Even from my distance
I could hear her

naked laughter.

Unaffected,
unguarded,
unconditional.
Her words flowed out like

wine

from a crystal decanter
— dark and rich and smooth.
And yet, once they hit the ground, they

effervesced

like light champagne and
floated up into the
sky.

— Lost —
— forever —

2

I watched through my telescope as her bubbles

drifted

and settled amongst
the larger stars.
Here was a woman
who did not belong on

Earth.

This much I could tell from the telescope
at the top of the observatory.
—
Distance: 125 feet
Even from my distance
I could smell her

cloying smoke.

Her incense carried from

Delphi

— now without a seer.
Intoxicating fumes in rock caves: actually
ethylene as
fake

prophecies

fake

fates

fake

destinies

waft from fake prophet’s
lips.
Burned dreams only

ashes

now is the only perfume she can
afford.
She gets them by the bottle
at her doorstep addressed to
The Oracle of Delphi.
This much I could tell from the telescope
at the top of the observatory.

3

—
Distance: 25 feet
Even from my distance
I could taste her

failing sweetness.

Dragonfruits are

exotic
(exotic)

— magenta hide and jade scales
cradle milky white flesh.
Sever the crown,
seize a scale,
segregate skin from soft tissue.
Bite into the

bland.

Sympathize with the

almos—

sweetness of the dragonfruit.
Edit: she is dragonfruit
This much I could tell from the telescope
at the top of the observatory.
—
Distance: 5 feet
Even from my distance
I could feel she was

cold.

To the touch,
to herself,
to others all the

tbnf/

As a child I hunted for

seashells

vacated by their denizens and
wondered where they went, leaving only beautiful
shells behind.

4

Perhaps they became tired of being

pounded

again and
again,
monotonous

day

after monotonous

day

by the tide which eventually
swept them
away.
Away to where

loving

was the same as being

loved

and

lovers

remembered how to

love

even after seven years’
time.
This much I could tell from the telescope
at the top of the observatory.
—
Distance: 0 feet
Even from my distance
I knew
she was no longer

mine.