Jaye Chen
Jaye Chen was born and raised in Suzhou, China. They won the Academy of American Poets's Sean T. Lannan Poetry Prize for their long-form epic poem, Homily. Their poems have appeared or are forthcoming in poets.org, DIAGRAM, Babel Between Us, and no, dear. They live in Brooklyn.
Firsts
(Excerpted from a long poem, Homily)
Firsts
(Excerpted from a long poem, Homily
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What these bored girls etched in graphite
stung me, after a liturgy of pop songs:
take me to heartbreak city
take me to heartbreak city
where between aisles of milk and honey
I can think of a few menial things
that you’d want in a homeland:
machinery stasis public bathrooms fast friends four lifetimes in a parking lot water births no mornings
& those endless
invites to sweet things; no way to go to sleep
christmas lights, right?
war? airheads? the right hand?
tight lips? raking leaves? closing a door—but that’s just no way to treat a friend
I don’t remember a thing from my childhood
What these bored girls etched in graphite
stung me, after a liturgy of pop songs:
take me to heartbreak city
take me to heartbreak city
where between aisles of milk and honey
I can think of a few menial things
that you’d want in a homeland:
machinery stasis public bathrooms fast friends four lifetimes in a parking lot water births no mornings
& those endless
invites to sweet things; no way to go to sleep
christmas lights, right?
war? airheads? the right hand?
tight lips? raking leaves? closing a door—but that’s just no way to treat a friend
I don’t remember a thing from my childhood
Jaye Chen
Jaye Chen was born and raised in Suzhou, China. They won the Academy of American Poets's Sean T. Lannan Poetry Prize for their long-form epic poem, Homily. Their poems have appeared or are forthcoming in poets.org, DIAGRAM, Babel Between Us, and no, dear. They live in Brooklyn.
Jaye Chen