Level 24
Level 48
Level 59
Level 86
I was under the age of six,
anaconda squeezing my mums hand
up the steps, we were inside
one of the silver twin skyscrapers
The Petronas Towers
I protested against going
due to my intense fear of heights,
I could hear
my heart Taiko drumming in my ears,
and we kept climbing up and up and up—
step after step
I was too scared to go towards
the curved out windows, but my dad took
a photo along with my Paji,
and I stayed far away from the view and glass
as possible—focusing on the ground
You could see the whole bloody city
clockwork moving in the morning
My stomach was in a sumo-sized butterfly knot
and my legs turned turkey
I remember couples walking by,
tourists from everywhere inside the top shifting about
I remember crying and chair-swivel
shaking my head, left-right-left-right
sweating out owl pellet bullets
I remember feeling like I was
in a walk-in Medusa freezer
—would barely move my feet around
without my mum holding me
I wouldn’t let go…
Vevna Forrow (Jazz Marie Kaur) is an experimental visual designer and queer poet originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, but resides in Southern Nevada. Work of hers appears in the Lothlorien Journal, diacritics – DVAN, Phantom Kangaroo, Oddball Magazine, boats against the current mag, and Little Old Lady Comedy.