The White Review Short Story Prize, sponsored by RCW, is an annual short story competition for emerging writers. The prize awards £2,500 to the best piece of short fiction...
I know you can see through my body,
its soft little bones
its heart-shrill rhythm
I forget how astral everything is,
that my suffering is equivocal to my orchard, the number of orange fruits that exist
I love the way your beak is pierced with a thousand holes like a flute
Each opening has a different sound, each sound is a secret
Phoenix, I tried to rip the skin off a snake instead of letting it moult
I tried to block sunlight with my body
save a fly from a swimming pool
I’ve tried to live my life in one breath
Tried rebirth,
reared myself to live quietly
beside a shoal of wild demons
I trust I am a butterfly dreaming as a woman, the fact there are realized beings
Don’t tell Oaba, Baba joon
about my drinking
rainwater through dirt
About my opening the door to death like a boathouse
That I am only water mixed with dust
That we are just something rather than nothing
That the world might persuade you of otherwise
The White Review · Khairani Barokka – survivor’s remorse, guilt city survivor’s remorse, guilt city (after wiji thukul, tr. eliza vitri handayani) a...
