summer’s inspiration—ecdysis
by Hikari Leilani Miya
after haruka’s august 2023 shed, 5’1”haruka: 6 year old japanese rat snake, Elaphe climacophora
it starts in blue. milky gray eyes set in a head
tucked into the coils of a dull body, hidden within
the resin cave in the corner. i fill the water basin,
a pond to him, and sprinkle the drops on my fingertips
amongst the fluffy aspen bedding. on sunday the small
mouse was left untouched for the first time in months.
every day, another long look down his body
and another mist with the blue dollar store bottle.
then, around 10:30pm—a twitch of cat ears, curious
quivering whiskers pointed up beneath the vivarium.
i listen. the signature rustle—not unlike the sound
of dozens of insect legs scrabbling against the walls
of an inflated plastic bag. or, as if two leaves
embraced and twirled along a dry sidewalk in august.
instead of a tape measure, i held the damp skin
with the head next to mine, the tail down to my feet.
i remember when he was thinner than a no. 2 pencil,
a friendship bracelet around my wrist that constricted
so light and fragile it could snap at any point
in the sleek coils. now, he is longer than i am
tall. fully grown after six years, and i’m sure:
growing still, endless green upon gray and blue.
Hikari Leilani Miya is an LGBTQ Japanese-Filipina American who graduated from Cornell University in 2019 with a BA in English, and from University of San Francisco with an MFA in Creative Writing. She is a scholarship-awarded student in Florida State University's PhD program in creative writing, where she is a member of the Asian American Student Union and Vice President of the university's first Herpetology Club. Her poems have been published or are forthcoming in dozens of in-print and online magazines across North America, including MacGuffin, Chestnut Review, Eunoia Review, Broadkill Review, and Cobra Milk. In 2021, she was a semi-finalist for the Red Wheelbarrow poetry prize judged by Mark Doty. Her first book of poems, sold out at AWP 2024, is published with Cornerstone Press. She currently lives in Tallahassee with her snakes, leopard gecko, and disabled cat, and volunteers at the Tallahassee Museum specializing in reptile care and handling. In addition to earning her master's certification in herpetology from the Amphibian Foundation and certification in husbandry and captive management, she is a former health care worker, percussionist, pianist, and competitive card game player.