new fortune

pídàn shòu ròu zhōu / stretch marks patterned like pine branches / hundred year feasts of saltine crackers / i haven’t been the same since i came here / i want an elegy for the subterranean / for those whose skins have yellowed under a fluorescent moon / for those who find sustenance in cooking oil fumes / for those who write love notes on paper napkins / on waiters’ pads / on receipts / for those who have cut themselves un-canning tuna / for those who squat on overturned cabbage crates / for those surprised to find they’re still breathing / breathing / after the day’s shift

 

zhà húntún / i am / you are / he is / she is / it is / we are / they are / learning english / scribbling madly away in worn notebooks / like poets / spelling out sentences under the blankets / grasping desperately for words / words / like cockroaches / like twisted ankles / like can openers / the tongue asunder / self-conscious americans order zhà húntún in accented chinese / i smile back in broken english

 

gàn chǎo niú hé / all crooked teeth / reckless driving / shaggy hair / he cuts onions fast like magic johnson on the court / flying up to the free-throw line / slam dunk / he has hands licked by hot oil / scars and burns across them like ophiolites / he tells us it’s been seven years since he’s seen china / and he doesn’t miss it one bit / he lies / he peels oranges like dreams / fragrant rinds falling by his tattered shoes / he cooks anything on the menu / except gàn chǎo niú hé / and that’s memory / memory / what he won’t disclose

 

zuǒ zōngtáng jī / america / is love pressed dearly of past and future / toiling forgetful in the present / america i profess i’ve used expired coupons / i’ve searched for you in the syrup of canned peaches / i’ve bitten my nails to stubs / i’ve drunk dry milk powder with water until i coughed up pennies / rusty and cold / i’ve averted my eyes from the righteous / i’ve entangled dreams in hairnets / america i profess i’ve come looking for you / you who must bear my body / carry me

 

qīngzhēng quán yú / when i was young / i too had many dreams