Though rivers make untrue
that Land is borderless
(we aren’t mermaids
to intermingle with the sea)
I wish I were
a freshwater octopus,
all kisses and soft touches,
For bones are such a burden
to us, the nationless
and lying in the depths
letting little death sing
there’d be no shame
of monster and mate coupling
So on eight limbs
we’d begin counting
all our luck,
to not be distinct,
as even or odd,
but lover, and cephalopod
Ross Kilpatrick ’23 is a staff writer
rkilpatrick23@amherst.edu
Hannah Zhang ’22 is a staff artist
hazhang22@amherst.edu