pluckedfor the comfort women of Koreacan a body born to giveever be lovedwithout violence? bitter-tasting is this fruitwhen it has yet to ripen& quiet is the moonwhen it listens to my dreams a body born to give sits in the dark white petals… Read on blog or Reader The Rising Phoenix Review Read on blog or Reader plucked By Vannida S. Kol By The Rising Phoenix Review on July 9, 2024 plucked for the comfort women of Korea can a body born to give ever be loved without violence? bitter-tasting is this fruit when it has yet to ripen & quiet is the moon when it listens to my dreams a body born to give sits in the dark white petals of the plum blossom surrender so sweetly to the wind as it flows beneath heaven something is torn & plucked in the night that mourns a cruel war of men it made a young girl a whore where there was once a spring flower there is now a body covered in red chrysanthemums, crumbling how feminine are these breasts, barely budding? how tempting is my waist, so thin from a few grains of rice? do you think the blood between my thighs could turn a boy into a man / a solider / a husband / sinner / a lover? could the blood of a man ever paint me beautiful? By Vannida S. Kol Biography: Vannida S. Kol is a Cambodian-American poet with a BA in English, Certificate in Poetry, and minor in Religious Studies minor from the University of Texas–Austin. Her writing navigates and merges Khmer culture, Buddhist philosophy, and interpretations of the metaphysical. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Hothouse Literary Journal, Silk Club ATX, Shō Poetry Journal, and The SEAD Project zine. Comment

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