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Natalie Hampton

life in the phases of the moon


   I. new moon 1
   II. waxing crescent moon 2
   III. first quarter moon 3
   IV. waxing gibbous moon 4
   V. full moon 5
   VI. waning gibbous moon 6
   VII. last quarter moon 7
   VIII. waning crescent moon 8     
   IX. new moon 9


1. as if inked blood stains wombs / into empty chambers, we spend nine months / in the dark. a child / i once babysat could only strike the keys / of a piano in a dusk room. he said / light lived too much / & music longed for the dead. alternative to dead: notyetborn. / when my brother was notyetborn, / he was normal as

2. could be with / spoon eyes & midnight wakes & / promises of more light in his future / more illumination in his full (moon) life. / fact: parents don’t outlive / children. fact: my parents weren’t / astrologists. fact: sometimes, I lie. you see,

3. the disorder pins / shadows & toolateclocks to cratered / hearts. later diagnosis = further seeped blood / medical help = slowed advance. tell me / about doctors & diagnoses / & I’ll tell you he was fourteen months when doctors said he would die / young. treatment would savor / the light / until the shadows knocked all doors down. somedays I hear them knocking

4. but breaking news / holds waves at bay. / technological advancements & medical / experts. ashes burned / back into bodies / toolateclocks dialed back / coffins resurfaced and emptied, miracles / from heaven (or miracles / from labs). wires strung through body, suspended skeleton. now / make him your test subject. find the elixir in new / treatment plans & / medicines & trials & one day / a cure will align. one day / his genes will reorder / one day / oneday. / onedays

5. passed like butterfly / wings. one day he died / with desire to be other kids / to be the dove / & not choke on olive branches / to be / something. one day he died / with desire to sink into the ground at disney / & consume only light & laughter until doves dug ditches and buried themselves. / make-a-wish was free / ice cream & carousal rides / & wondering / how many of your new friends will die / in a year / how many reach the top of the roller coaster / & how many lose momentum / halfway. & skipping / to the front of lines / & meeting costumed versions of digital characters. but when we returned, we learned how

6. seizures steal bodies, steal limbs, steal hearts / & more than one iteration: friends’ hearts, families’ hearts. packed into boxes and shipped / across the seven seas. returned only / to clench into fisted roses & murder / mystery threats: which seizure will be the grand finale? / we packed our hearts and we packed him

7. into hospice. fact: the maximum length of hospice eligibility is six months. / fact: he was on it for years. you see, doctors wrote eulogies / before he was gone. warned of death / with every trace of shadow. so his expected life span / always dwindled below the mark. / under this care

8. they reminded us food is life / & to empty stomachs is to empty / bedrooms. when he stopped eating & drinking & gathered debt in shed pounds he didn’t own, / we saw life debt taking back what it owned. we saw / the toolateclocks ringing true / and another fact:

9. my parents aren’t astrologists, / but even if they were, no telescope / can see the new moon.



--
​Natalie Hampton is a junior at the Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in the Creative Writing Department. She has been recognized by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the Harris County Department of Education, the Young Poets Network, the Pulitzer Center, and Ringling College of Art and Design. She serves as an editor at Polyphony Lit and Cathartic Literary Magazine. She has taken online workshops and classes with Iowa, Brown, and Sewanee.

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  • Home
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  • Issue #27 Spring 2024
    • Issue #27 Art Spring 2024 >
      • Kristina Erny Spring 2024
      • Luiza Maia Spring 2024
      • Christy Lee Rogers Spring 2024
      • Erika Lynet Salvador Spring 2024
      • Marsha Solomon Spring 2024
    • Issue #27 Poetry Spring 2024 >
      • Terry Belew Spring 2024
      • Dustin Brookshire​ & Diamond Forde Spring 2024 Spring 2024
      • Dustin Brookshire​ & Caridad Moro-Gronlier Spring 2024 Spring 2024
      • Charlie Coleman Spring 2024
      • Isabelle Doyle Spring 2024
      • Reyzl Grace Spring 2024
      • Kelly Gray Spring 2024
      • Meredith Herndon Spring 2024
      • Mina Khan Spring 2024
      • Anoushka Kumar Spring 2024
      • Cate Latimer Spring 2024
      • BEE LB Spring 2024
      • Grace Marie Liu​ Spring 2024
      • Sarah Mills Spring 2024
      • Faisal Mohyuddin 2024
      • Marcus Myers Spring 2024
      • Mike Puican Spring 2024
      • Sarah Sorensen Spring 2024
      • Lynne Thompson Spring 2024
      • Natalie Tombasco Spring 2024
      • Alexandra van de Kamp Spring 2024
      • Donna Vorreyer Spring 2024
    • Fiction #27 Spring 2024 >
      • Bryan Betancur Spring 2024
      • Karen George Spring 2024
      • Raja'a Khalid Spring 2024
      • Riley Manning Spring 2024
      • Adina Polatsek Spring 2024
      • Beth Sherman Spring 2024
    • Nonfiction #27 Spring 2024 >
      • Liza Olson Spring 2024
  • Issue #28 Fall 2024
    • Issue #28 Art Fall 2024 >
      • Eric Calloway Fall 2024
      • Matthew Fertel Fall 2024
      • JooLee Kang Fall 2024
      • Jian Kim Fall 2024
      • Robb Kunz Fall 2024
      • Sean Layh Fall 2024
    • Issue #28 Poetry Fall 2024 >
      • Jodi Balas Fall 2024
      • Clayre Benzadón Fall 2024
      • Catherine Broadwall Fall 2024
      • Sara Burge Fall 2024
      • Judith Chalmer Fall 2024
      • Stephanie Choi Fall 2024
      • Sarah Jack Fall 2024
      • Jen Karetnick Fall 2024
      • Ae Hee Lee Fall 2024
      • Svetlana Litvinchuk Fall 2024
      • Mary Lou Buschi Fall 2024
      • Angie Macri Fall 2024
      • Gary McDowell Fall 2024
      • Sam Moe Fall 2024
      • Camille Newsom Fall 2024
      • Elizabeth O'Connell- Thompson Fall 2024
      • Olatunde Osinaike Fall 2024
      • Jessica Pierce Fall 2024
      • Diane Raptosh Fall 2024
      • Isaac Richards Fall 2024
      • Robyn Schelenz Fall 2024
      • Christopher Shipman Fall 2024
      • Alex Tretbar Fall 2024
      • Ruth Williams Fall 2024
      • Shannon K. Winston Fall 2024
      • Wendy Wisner Fall 2024
      • Anne Gerard Fall 2024
    • Issue #28 Fiction Fall 2024 >
      • J​oe Baumann Fall 2024
      • ​Morganne Howell Fall 2024
      • Matt Paczkowski Fall 2024
      • Ryan Peed Fall 2024
      • Gabriella Pitts Fall 2024
      • James Sullivan Fall 2024
  • Issue #29 Spring 2025
    • Issue #29 Art Spring 2025 >
      • Irina Greciuhina Spring 2025
      • Jesse Howard Spring 2025
      • Paul Simmons Spring 2025
      • Marsha Solomon Spring 2025
      • Elzbieta Zdunek Spring 2025
      • Na Yoon Amelia Cha-Ryu Spring 2025
    • Issue #29 Poetry Spring 2025 >
      • Deborah Bacharach Spring 2025
      • Diego Báez Spring 2025
      • Jaswinder Bolina Spring 2025
      • ​Ash Bowen Spring 2025
      • Christian J. Collier Spring 2025
      • ​Shou Jie Eng Spring 2025
      • Sara Fitzpatrick Spring 2025
      • Matthew Gilbert Spring 2025
      • Tammy C. Greenwood Spring 2025
      • Alejandra Hernández ​Spring 2025
      • Ben Kline ​Spring 2025
      • ​David Moolten Spring 2025
      • ​Tamer Mostafa Spring 2025
      • ​Rongfei Mu Spring 2025
      • Cynthia Neely Spring 2025
      • Pablo Otavalo Spring 2025
      • ​Bleah Patterson Spring 2025
      • ​M.A. Scott Spring 2025
      • ​Liam Strong ​ Spring 2025
      • Alexandra van de Kamp Spring 2025
      • ​Cassandra Whitaker Spring 2025
      • Angelique Zobitz Spring 2025
    • Issue #29 Fiction Spring 2025 >
      • Vanessa Blakeslee Spring 2025
      • K. J. Coyle Spring 2025
      • Meredith MacLeod Davidson Spring 2025
      • Jessica Mosher Spring 2025
    • Issue #29 Nonfiction Spring 2025 >
      • JM Huscher Spring 2025
      • Qurrat ul Ain Raza Abbas Spring 2025