Laura Ingram

Published: December 2nd, 2015

---

Laura Ingram is a tiny girl with large glasses. Her work has appeared in Gravel Magazine, Rock and Sling Magazine, The Crucible, Assonance, Cactus Heart Review, Jet Fuel Review, and other literary journals. She is a high school senior at Appomattox Regional Governor's School for the Arts and Technology in central Virginia. She has received four gold and two silver keys in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Laura was the third place winner of the national Sierra Nevada fiction contest and has received several VHSL multimedia awards. 
When she's not writing, Laura enjoys most books and all cats. 

Elementary Particles

1.
The only Korean I know is                     
I’m sorry.
And sometimes, if I try to remember,
Goodnight.
2.
You had the heels of your hands anchored to my creaking shoulders indefinitely.
You told me the truth,
That I was subatomic
Something too small to see--
The skinniest girl in the world.
You carried me across cul-de-sacs on rainy Saturdays so my shoes wouldn’t get soaked.
I wish I wasn’t the color of a magazine.
I wish you hadn’t slipped and dropped me in cement.
3.
This body is as burdensome as broken English.
I am learning my skin like a second language.
I hope you can understand.