Read the winning piece of our 2025 Nonfiction Contest “Through the Mirror” by Jessie Cato selected by Lucy Ives.

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July/Aug 2017 |

You Need

I need to make the baby eat. How do I feed the man who refuses; what will entice the weak bird?

I fill a dropper with tepid water while sweet, translucent gelatin tosses jewel colors on the white linen. My wants are my guide. I can’t count on them to channel a higher will.

Maybe a spoonful of milk-soaked bread will coax and convince—take what I offer, and thrive.

What I think they need turns into what I need to do about it. They may be satisfied. I am hungry for them.

Killarney Clary
Killarney Clary's fourth book of prose poems, Shadow of a Cloud but No Cloud, was published by The University of Chicago Press in 2014. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Lannan Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.