I Remember How

By Jade Prince

i remember how you stitched yourself to me, how after i tried to dislodge you like stuck gristle
slapped wet. i remember how you rattled when you slid in, how you swelled with the tune of
pleasure doused in promise, how you bled me like leeches and left no love. i remember how
my belly burnt. i remember how you bulged. i remember how i bloated. i remember how i
cradled the ashes of steel stripped begs in my palm, how my cries thickened and congealed. i
remember how my greatest artistic endeavor was the blood spots that stained your floor. i
remember how nothing in this world could seem more beautiful. i remember how i wondered
if god was always this sticky. i remember how i hollowed out that one song, how it tasted like
salt and death when i swallowed its swollen notes. i remember how it was the only time
someone plucked the voice from my throat. i remember how you plunged yourself into my gut,
how you planted your finger and left the shell of a fingernail, a crescent tip reminder, a half-
mooned trace.

Jade Prince is a 21 year old from Essex, England, who has recently completed her BA English Literature with Creative Writing. She has been selected as a feature poet in Makarelle, had work featured in Ink, Sweat & Tears, and was a runner up for the Alison Morland Prize 2020. Her time is currently spent completing a Masters degree in Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of Leeds.