TRACK//FOUR
  • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • CONTACT
    • CONTRIBUTORS
  • ISSUES
    • VOLUME ONE >
      • ISSUE ONE
      • ISSUE TWO
      • ISSUE THREE
      • ISSUE FOUR
    • VOLUME TWO >
      • ISSUE ONE
      • ISSUE TWO
      • ISSUE THREE
      • ISSUE FOUR
  • SUBMISSIONS
  • BLOG
BACK TO VOLUME ONE // ISSUE TWO

KUMQUATS

ANONYMOUS
My grandmother brings 
kumquats in a red strainer 
each the size of her thumbs. 
​I am small and they fit 
into where my baby 
teeth have already fallen 
out. They are bitter and I twist 
my face. She nods 
because she knows the acrid 
taste like forced labor 
​of long-way-from-home. They roll, 
ghosts in the bowl, straining for me to know them. 

My family comes here as woodchips. 
The axe strikes the trunk & particles 
as collateral damage fly & roll. 
Mao & Kuomintang, Cultural Revolution: 
struck, split, scattered. 
Hainan to Guangzhou to Hong Kong 
​to New York to San Francisco to San Jose.

My grandmother brings 
kumquats and I pocket them 
because I like the feeling 
of having. They slowly split, 
shriveling, singeing the fabric 
with pressed-out juice, 
staining my pants
orange like Yellow River. 

I have four grandparents 
on my mother’s side.
When I am young I tell their difference
using the sun and the moon. 
Sun grandparents don’t want much
to do with us, angry that my mother married
a white man. Sometimes 
Moon grandmother takes me 
to her garden with her clippers 
and passes me plucked flowers, 
look, the warm black eye 
from the Sun 15 years ago, 
look, your uncle and his cocaine, 
​look, your mother’s temper.

My grandmother brings 
kumquats and I devour them 
by handfuls. They scrape 
my lips as if I’m kissing them
zao an before I digest them
like grenades, before they explode 
like knowing the diaspora 
​and broken family roam 
hand in hand.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • CONTACT
    • CONTRIBUTORS
  • ISSUES
    • VOLUME ONE >
      • ISSUE ONE
      • ISSUE TWO
      • ISSUE THREE
      • ISSUE FOUR
    • VOLUME TWO >
      • ISSUE ONE
      • ISSUE TWO
      • ISSUE THREE
      • ISSUE FOUR
  • SUBMISSIONS
  • BLOG