Jasmine Kapadia is a senior and a poet. She is interested in bridging the gap between spoken word and literary poetry. Her favorite poets include Ocean Vuong and Warsan Shire.

home birth

sit with your belly. today, it is enough to feel

the planet shift under your feet. a thousand

dimensions open themselves for you. girl:

in every story i read, you have

my name. i give it to you again and again, let you

carve it into my collarbones. let you trace

it into my spine. your thumb, pressing it into my cheek.

in every story i write i braid you

tight against my tongue; hot and pink,

this girlish color. violent feminine, conjugating

your hips. baby, please don’t be scared

of your body. please don’t deny yourself

its holiness. it is not a burden, or a thing you

must carry. let it be enough to live beside yourself, to press

the shell of your ear into your burning chest.

in every iteration, i tell you,

listen for yourself.

see how the languages collide for you.

i’ve given you my name so you can rewrite it,

translate it into something better.

the multi-universe theory says that there exists

infinite versions of you: your past, your

present. me creating you each time. telling you

don’t swallow, you’ll choke.