Olivia Do
Self-Portrait as Column
Shou Jie Eng
I was not pleased to find myself
immobile, but what was I
to do? Circumference of me
proved to be more slender
than round, less wall, more prone
to folding. To my left and right
more copies repeated myself
and I was not pleased to find
that they spoke. One asked,
do you know what our modulus
of elasticity might be? I did not
and wished it would stop asking.
A great weight stood on top
of all of us, but we were told
to look impassive, and to stop
standing on one leg
eccentrically, or asking to leave,
or saying anything at all. Really,
we should be happy to simply
be there. An architect came by
to evaluate our condition,
and decided that we wanted
cladding. One day I awoke
to find that a box had been
installed around me,
an aluminium box as hot
as a coffin and half as
reflective. From inside I found
I could hear but not be heard.
Two kids went by, playing
like a G6 out loud. One rapped
on my side and it hurt.
Shou Jie Eng is a poet and architectural designer. Originally from Singapore, he runs Left Field Projects, a multi-disciplinary design practice located in Hartford, Connecticut. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Bennington Review, Harvard Review, The Los Angeles Review, and elsewhere. His chapbook, line weights (Sixth Finch), is forthcoming in 2026.