Photo by Quinton Coetzee on Unsplash
Friday Night, the stillness, the madnessUnder the purplish skyWear a pink blouse, come to a deserted gardenFireflies might come but you should not expect itFocus on cooking a good mealWash and dry all peachesEvery peach is a mazeTrim and thinly slice water liliesSeparating whites from greensThen thinly slice tangerineA tangerine is as tender as your heartMix it with chiseled snowCut a tomato into 1/2 inch dicesLonger than your penis you would sayFlank tomato dices with pretty AzaleasStir, stir, stirUntil fragmented, fragile and fragrantHeat a drizzle of oilExtracting from the dessert during the sunrisePour the trails of clouds sinking to the edgeOf the western hillsAnd the silence gathered from the frog pondWait for 1 minuteOr wait for the incense to burn, or roll the diceAdd a splash of rain from last nightWhen you were drenched, walked alone in the tunnelThe tunnel that keeps getting longerToo long to peel a peachFinally, drain everythingLike the world drains your brainSeason with morning dew and moonlightThe meal is readyEnjoy it as if you made of airAnd the night made of glass
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About the writer
Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan is a Chinese poet who grew up in a small town in southern China, where she began writing poetry at age sixteen. Known for her classical Chinese writing style, she moved to the US at age seventeen, where she began incorporating multicultural aspects into her work, reflecting on her life in both countries. She received her bachelor’s degree in East Asian Studies and History at UC Davis and is currently studying Bilingual & Bicultural Education at Columbia University. Xiao Yan has published a few influential poetry books in Chinese, including A Record of Chanting Dreams and Invisible Tel Aviv. Café after Dawn is her first poetry collection written in English.
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