i puked in the bushes while my bestie
held my hair back from my face.
sidewalk scratched my knees up as i
yakked bacardi & snapple all over
the gardenias. bad combo. three shots
ago we were galloping down uneven
sidewalk, trying to harmonize to a
drake song. we didn’t feel the men’s
stares bore a hole into our hearts–
that’s bacardi for you. we didn’t even
remember the white professors who
can’t tell us apart or feel our yesterdays’
white-knuckled grip. four shots ago (or
was it six?) i taught you how to say barf
in telugu: kakkadam. we kept saying
it back to each other. you told me you
say 칵 in korean. same diff. grandma
would say we damn near manifested
this dehydrated-heap-with-scratched-
up-knees moment. but we liked the way
it vibrated in our throats. kakkadam.
kakkadam! hahaha. worth it.
MANSI GARNENI (she/her) is from Southern California (Tongva land). She graduated from Columbia University in 2023 with a B.A. in English and will start medical school at Washington University. She loves mangoes, cats, coffee, and cracking open new books.