Afterlife Inventory by Arah Ko
Afterlife Inventory
Arah KoAre you bringing blood diamonds smart
phones damned by cobalt mines are you
bringing ornaments and tepid new year’s
resolutions are you bringing fatted calves
flawless as undriven snow pampered as pet
dogs are you bringing your pet dog are you
bringing dried rivers and felled rain forests in each
sharp pencil bleached reefs bone-white
in a sunscreen bottle every year of gasoline as thick
as blood are you bringing the dead are you bringing
the living will they testify for you or against you are
you bringing your Instagram following your solid
gold paper weights and every paper plate you ate
on are you bringing blood offerings are you
bringing sin offerings are you bringing sexy back
are you bringing any shame are you bringing bread
or breaking it are you bringing your last Google
search every gallon that washed your blue jeans
each flower you picked every song you learned all
the bombs dropped on your behalf are you bringing
your hands empty or full the last change
in your pocket are you bringing two white doves?
MARGINALIA
1.
What do I carry that I don’t even know I’m carrying. How heavy we are with the weight of just existing in this world.
2.
I think about my last Google search: “how to make rice less sticky.” Before that: “why do I feel sad for no reason.” Before that: “cheap flights anywhere.” What does this say about a life—that we can trace our longings through search histories, our fears through the questions we ask in the dark.
3.
How do we reckon with the small violences of just getting through the day.
4.
Tell me we are more than the sum of our damages.
KEEP READING
SHARED WITH GRATITUDE
This poem appeared in Apogee Journal, Issue 19.
DESCRIPTION
“Apogee is a 501c3 literary organization and collective that encourages thoughtful exploration of identity at its intersections: race, gender, sexuality, class, caste, and disability status.
The word “apogee” denotes the point in an object’s orbit farthest from a center. In turn, we celebrate artistic expression far from the political center, created by artists and writers of oppressed identities, particularly incarcerated writers, who interrogate aesthetic and political status quos in their work. As we do so, we pay tribute to the Black feminist Combahee River Collective in recognition that “the major systems of oppression are interlocking.” To that end, we combat the domination of white, cis-heteronormative, patriarchal, settler-colonial voices that pervade our literary landscape.” (Source)
ABOUT ARAH KO
Arah Ko is a writer from Hawaii, the author of Brine Orchid (YesYes Books, October 2025) and the chapbook Animal Logic (Bull City Press, 2026). Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Anthology, Best of Net, and Best New Poets and appears in American Poetry Review, Apogee, Ninth Letter, The Threepenny Review, RHINO, Waxwing, Poetry Northwest, and elsewhere. She received her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from The Ohio State University. (Source)
ENDNOTES
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