Poetry
The Herbalist
My grandfather was a herbalist— / he mixed rare leaves and seeds, ground them together / & when he was done, he smeared the mixture on my forehead. / This will protect you from evil spirits, He said.
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Poetry
Poetry
i find my body and my body
i find my body and my body / in the banyan tree i find my body / the tree finds its body in me
Poetry
The Reality of Ghosts
“Why do so many Asians believe in ghosts?” / Two white yokai scholars won’t stop gawking / at us like we’re aliens seen through a telescope. / They bait our deceased ancestors to rise up
Poetry
Paladin
Shrive me, beloved, / for I have exhausted / the bellows of / this particular life.
Poetry
How to Find Yourself Again
decide, in the ignorant way of children / that now’s the time to grow up / fold away your dreams / along with your wings
Poetry
Magic Carpet
Did anyone think about cleaning advice / for carpets stained with enchanted detritus / the silt from a thousand journeys
Poetry
Echidna
She didn’t cry when it happened. / She knew before the news told the story. / She knew in the way that a woman knows
Poetry
Visitor
Spinning languidly in a particle stream / forfeited to gravity and the final dead cold / lies a slender needle-ship / glinting against stygian space.
Poetry
Self-Portrait as Wolf
For weeks— / gather bones. / Meander underworld.
Poetry
The Knitting Bowl
Work wood on a potter’s wheel, mold it, / warmly glowing with oil eased in so it / forgets that it was never soil, never clay.
