“Last Day of the Circadian Ache” by Vivian Sun

April 2, 2024

Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Last Day of the Circadian Ache” by Vivian Sun, winner of the 2023 Jessamy Stursberg Poetry Prize in the senior category, and part of our 2024 Poem in Your Pocket Day collection!

Due to this poem’s formatting, it is only available as an image file

Last Day of the Circadian Ache

by Vivan Sun

1. And so it begins, The Last Artless Night Drips its silver tap The moon and its reflection Two quiet eyes 2. I peel clementines into the sink and beg to be saved 3. Hunger - the primordial sin I place each crescent on my tongue, I repent for another starving girl, I pray three times Before I Bite. Once, After you finished scolding me, You told me To Wash the tears off my face. So I held my breath Drowning in orange blossom soap, Three, Never really coming 4. The rib will always be heavier than the fruit And the image and the illusion will never meet But divinity lies in that mirror space, That split-second Midnight 5. Tomorrow morning, I Will Pick up the peels

Vivan Sun is a poet from Toronto, and the winner of the 2023 Jessamy Stursberg Poetry Prize in the senior category. She was a participant in the 2023 FutureVerse program hosted by Poetry in Voice, and is featured in the Voices/Voix Journal. In her free time, Vivian enjoys playing the violin, petting her cats, and losing at chess.

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