“That was the question the protagonists of the cartoon show King of the Hill asked the Lao character Kahn Souphanousinphone when he debuted on March 2, 1997—even after he’d explained where he and his family were from in elaborate detail. Twenty years later, that question continues to encapsulate Lao American refugees’ enduring frustration when . . .
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Set the dove free and tryto call it back within a year.How do you love a bird so muchyou cage it? If I were that birdI’d sing all day. With the right song,I’ll dance my bones down.—from “My Therapist Asks If I would Be Happier If I Were Straight”, Winter 2018 (Vol. . . .
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Early mornings, I waited for the school bus, tiny hands claspingthin backpack straps, lunch inside a crinkled brown paper bag, tacky white fluff & peanut butter stuck to the cheap Ziploc. The bus arrivedat 7:05 a.m. The yellow morning light was a warm puddle — soft, I could touch it. —from “It . . .
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There you stood, eye to the photograph looking at theplace you’re in without you. Am I feeling elegiacor algebraic again. A violence from within protectsfrom a violence without.—from “On Memorial”, Winter 2018 (Vol. 59, Issue 4) Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.I’m not sure if this question is . . .
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“Dear Applicant, We appreciate your interest in our supergroup and the time you’ve invested in applying for the Associate Hero opening. While we acknowledge that your abilities as ‘The Outsider’ (i.e., heightened powers of perception, an ability to subtly blend in with your surroundings) could be assets to our organization, at the . . .
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“They came in droves. All through the cool season, from October through April, the shadow people arrived at the depot. First the locomotive groaned to a stop at Howrah Station in Calcutta, its grooved wheels and iron pistons coated in dust from the long trip across the plains of northern India. A . . .
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While Professor Jeong explains a poet should work with farmers to write of harvest, you recall 195 kilometers away Professor Kim said there’s no poetry in the north.—from “Northern Korea Postcard”, Winter 2018 (Vol. 59, Issue 4) Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.As a child growing up in . . .
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“She is a beacon in the dark night, dressed from nape to heel in white. Standing at the threshold, she is a study in contrasts: her black hair blunt against her chin, the ivory of piano keys, while her red lips take shape to mouth the name of a friend inside. The . . .
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Stopping to catch my breath on a switchback,I run my fingers along the leaves of a yucca: each blade curved, sharp, radiating from a core —in this warmest of Novembers, the dead push out of thawing permafrost: in a hugeblotch of black ink that now hangs, framed. . . —from “Ravine,” from Volume . . .
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They fly me in a helicopterinside a bronze casket that sellsat bestpricedcaskets.comfor twelve grand. . . .—from “The Dictator En Route to His Burial at the National Heroes’ Cemetery,” Volume 59, Issue 4 (Winter 2018) Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.One of the first pieces I wrote was . . .
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