Contents
Series Editor’s Preface
THERE IS NO OTHER WAY TO SAY THIS
*
Hollowed
The Dream
The Act
Are There Words for This
Self-Portrait as Two
Chimera
Inside Persepolis
Self-Portrait with Crescent Moon and Plum Blossoms
Questions for the Outward Curve of My Stomach, Where I Sometimes Rest My Hand and Pretend to Be Pregnant
What’s Lost
The Birth of Language
Cento for Loneliness & Writer’s Block & the Fear of Never Being Enough, Despite Being Surrounded by Asian American Poets
Haibun for Learning 中文 on Duolingo
With a dull blade, I cut the lamb’s tongue
In the Smoke of the Wild Rue Seeds
Self-Portrait Alone in the Kitchen
Invocation
Those Who Live
Dream of Liminal Space
Nocturne in Which I Give Myself unto Another
The God Who Ate His Children
Devotion
Fire Season Grows Longer
Disappointing Things
World War 3 Is Trending on Twitter
At the lakeshore I am reminded that we are different
Ars Poetica Ghazal
Cento for Loneliness & Writer’s Block & the Fear of Never Being Enough, Despite Being Surrounded by Asian American Poets II
My Aquarius moon won’t let me rest
Ode to Birthmark
Relics for My Future
Rewrite: I Go Back
Accidental Loss
Ghosts
The Return
Cento for Loneliness & Writer’s Block & the Fear of Never Being Enough, Despite Being Surrounded by Asian American Poets III
In the Beginning There Were Fires
Self-Portrait without Plans or Prayers
What Remains
After 9/11 We Wonder If We Should Ever Celebrate
Self-Portrait with Womanhood
Lump
Eye
Self-Mythology
Inside the Museum, a Remnant
America in Spring
Reflections of Heaven
Self-Portrait as a Bowl of Persimmons
Feast
Notes
Acknowledgments