
This selection, chosen by guest curator Addie Tsai, is from Monkey Was Here by Jasmine An, released by Porkbelly Press in 2020.
Synonyms for White
The pale fur where peach stem joins body,
a doctor’s coat,
my upper thighs,
Guanyin’s cheek,
an application—blank,
the bathtub where my mother
birthed my youngest sister,
lichen underneath the mountain,
subtitles on a movie,
my hot ears and
my sweating palms,
Tripitaka’s bald dome,
the welcome screen
to my first bank account,
an American Eagle
shirt buttoned tight over my throat,
the harsh glare of enlightenment,
Buddha’s hand reaching down,
and me not knowing
what I’ll become.


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