Zero
She found
my father hunched in a squat,
hand outstretched,
wet can of c-rations waiting
to be licked
clean
both lost to the Philippines
Clinging, like drops of rain
or sweat, when the clap
of intelligent life broke
the canopy open, vines cracking
into ribbon pieces floating
and falling
she hid
burrowing a fox hole
beneath
his leg
Spiraling from nothing, moving
nowhere, flying
an endless moment
in the chasm that lies at the center of hide
and seek
she had lost her people
lost her bark
lost the memory of another way
of living
When the heat rose,
trying not to hear the thunder of men
shrapnel pierced her head.
Zero was her name.
Sabrina Fedel’s debut novel, Leaving Kent State, was published by Harvard Square Editions in 2016, and received a five star Litpick review. Her poetry and prose has appeared in various journals, and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, a storySouth Million Writers’ Award, and a Sundress Publication’s Best of the Net award. She is a 2014 graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at Lesley University. She lives in a house that she calls Pemberley with a family who considers her eccentric. For more, visit her at www.sabrinafedel.com.
