The Chicks of Last Year, by Heather Voraphongphibul

Poetry, chapbook, 24 pages, from Bottlecap Features.

The Chicks of Last Year acknowledges the grief in growing up. Coming-of-age stories are equal parts wonder, excitement, fear, and loss; Voraphongphibul’s sharp imagery doesn’t shy away from any of it.

The descriptive world of each poem turns inward toward memories and loose philosophies. In “Takeway from Hibachi Fun Time,” the adult speaker’s current world of responsibility and “try-not-to-stain velvet work skirt” is overtaken by the memory of who she was with her childhood friend after “a taste of rice from a decade called Back When.” In “Who Ever Heard of a Princess in a Puffer Coat,” she is brought back to the wistful chills of trick-or-treating “with the October jaundice setting in.” Every minute detail is a journey through the juxtapositions of girlhood, thought, and time.

Heather Voraphongphibul is a poet and budding screenwriter based in Georgia. Her work has been featured in publications such as Poetry Quarterly, Modern Haiku, Shot Glass Journal, and Nota Bene. She holds a Master of Arts in Professional Writing from Kennesaw State University, where she also earned her Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing. She now teaches university-level English courses and spends her days marveling at the uniqueness and creativity in every student’s voice.