the body forgets in parentheses

by Molly Thapviwat

Aron Visuals

I mailed my voice to the wrong decade / it came back wearing bell-bottoms and asking for my father / who at that time was still a question mark in my grandmother’s uterus / the letter opened itself and read: dear misremembered self, you left the stove on in every lifetime / I took this as a threat / or an invitation / depends on the weather of your guilt / a goat showed up on my porch and claimed to be my therapist / she chewed through my insurance card like it meant something / and nodded / I cried in lowercase / she cried in italics / we both agreed nothing was resolved but the moon felt closer / somewhere, a toothache translates to loneliness / somewhere else, a chandelier grows out of the earth and no one questions it / I had a name once, but it melted / I carry its echo in my right knee / when I laugh, it limps / at 3am I alphabetize the people I used to be: anxious, boyish, crooked, dust / sometimes I skip letters, sometimes I skip sleep / they say forgiveness is a muscle / mine tore in 2011 / never healed right / now it clicks when I lie / I lie often / mostly to mirrors and coffee cups / but the goat says that’s progress / she gave me a bell to wear / I asked if it was a metaphor / she said everything is, even you / especially you / so I rang myself awake / and the house applauded / and the fire alarm whispered: again, again, again.

---

Molly Thapviwat is an English teacher and writer based in Bangkok, Thailand. She grew up in Los Angeles and studied English pedagogy in London and Liverpool. Her work won first place in the Solitary Daisy 2025 Annual Haiku Contest (Canada), and her poem “Where the Field Gives In” was commended in the South Downs Poetry Competition (UK). She is currently completing a novel and working on her debut poetry collection. Outside of writing, she performs as Elvis Little Sister — one of only seventeen professional female Elvis tribute artists worldwide, according to The World of Elvis Tribute Artists by Lee Jackson.