You became
a fibrous,
flayed
streak of lightning
in a glass
case, shooting
from its origin
at the base
of the skull.
Silently
calling out, look,
at what twitches
under skin,
tangled and throbbing.
Look,
we are all
electric.
“THERE’S NO THROUGH TRAIL” —HAN-SHAN, TRANSLATED BY GARY SNYDER
Harriet Cole, the Cleaning Woman who Donated Her Body to Science
by Cassandra Baliga
Issue: Spring/Summer 2020
About Cassandra Baliga
Cassandra Baliga is a senior studying English at Purdue University Fort Wayne. She’s had work previously appear in The Red Booth Review, Confluence, and ANGLES. She also is a two-time winner of the DeKalb Snowbound Writer’s Poetry Contest.
Cold Mountain Review is published once a year in the Department of English at Appalachian State University. Support from Appalachian’s Office of Academic Affairs and College of Arts and Sciences enables CMR’s learning and publications program. The views and opinions expressed in CMR do not necessarily reflect those of university trustees, administration, faculty, students, or staff.