i know you don’t like flowers so i put a blanket over our headstone

by Aytaç “Kelebek” Barak2 Comments

Aytaç “Kelebek” Barak

By Aytaç “Kelebek” Barak

bodies decay faster in summer

“heat encourages the breakdown of organic material
and the growth of bacteria & their digestion of tissue
which accelerates the stages of decomposition.”

i’m tired of textbooks. i’m tired of making my mama proud.

to every word, front to back, underneath a stiff spine cracked:
i think you’re lying. i think bodies decay faster in summer
because they want to be warm.

Aytaç “Kelebek” Barak is a student writing from their bedroom in the southeastern United States. In their free time they like watching robot movies, drawing pictures of their dogs, and not making any sense.

Why we chose this piece: We love how Aytaç mixes biology and poetry in this piece. We also love how the language in the ending is soft, yet the emotion of it hits hard. The imagery in the title and body (pardon the pun) are also really strong.