Winniebell Xinyu Zong is a poet and djembe player. She was born and raised in an industrial city in China. Zong holds a B.A. in Creative Writing from Franklin and Marshall College, where she received Nolt Music Award and Honaman Japanese Study Fund. Her work has appeared recently or is forthcoming in Rigorous, littledeathlit, NYMBM, High Shelf Press, and Little Patuxent Review. She now mentors high school students on college access at College Advising Corps.
Woman with an Elephant
nose drowned in a corn field;
only tip of her trunk graced
the mist above & twitched
a fascinate. She picked up notes
of wet popcorns & whispers
at 38°F. Screams pressed close
her nostrils & brushed
her ears asking for a good
night kiss. On the cross,
she heard the torch judge her
ponytail: too loose, girlfriend,
before the hair tips began
to clinch to her scalp & smell
like sulfur & the whispers grew loud—