By: Addie Luo
Squinting mice, grooming mice
A cage of four, anesthetize
Clean incision, neatly closed
Frankenstein cells in one large dose
Domes of tumor, kingly surgical
xenografted hope, examined survival
Slouching mice, sniffing mice
Cancerous and immortalized
Studded growth they can’t reject:
A manufactured defect
Drink data as champagne, coronate
Charming sacrifice, celebrate
Sleepy mice, stiffened mice
Broken necks, bulging eyes
Dislocate for a good death;
Lest it was short of breath
Hang the morgue bags on our scepter
Jot down the numbers for impact factors
Bio
Addie Luo is a science research technician based in the Pacific Northwest. She began writing poetry in 2025, and has been receiving editorial feedback from Wendy Bourgeois.