Hold up, I’m gonna vom - Mansi Garneni

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.

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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.