Aunt Hwie, (like we) was, I learned, aunt Hoei (like oui) was bibi Hoei to me and The Thian Hoei (like thé, tiens, oui) Father, took Joseph in English, is Sioe An (like Sue Ann), is bapak to me, & we spelled her name wrong repeatedly. Uncle, took Joseph in English too, is Sioe Siet […] More »

Listen to music too loudly / Sing along to songs I don’t know the lyrics to / Get stoned and turn into a fiery ball of Love / Kiss my best friends square on the mouth / Drink water, gotta stay hydrated / Hate everything I write / Love everything you write / Sleep off […] More »

A fleck of topsoil found its way onto Paloma’s middle finger. She rolled the dirt back and forth against her thumb, examining what was left of the cactus her mother delivered a few weeks before. Something for you to nurture, the note said. The crisp cursive script was centred on the scrap of a pharmacy […] More »

You still didn’t feel comfortable drinking in front of your parents. You texted “bless you” to Vikas, as he received your drink from Sumeet Uncle at the open but not self-serve bar. You then said the same words out loud when the cold glass met your sweaty palms. Vikas was your best friend and a […] More »

The blond Australian’s jaw is clenched in ecstasy. His jaw is clenched as if to say I’m having so much fun you can see it in my face. With a kshink! I pass my retractable claws right through his thorax. He hugs me and his staleness is battery acid. Cultural capital is the only capital. […] More »

4 A.M: Awaken. Move slowly to preserve the dream. When it fades, sit up. Meditate on one word for one hour. 5 A.M: Exercise. If bones crack during yoga, use the elliptical first. 6 A.M: Wash, after listening for son’s truck to rumble alive and leave for the day. Bless his inherited armour skin. 7 […] More »

The main thrust of the argument                    was that she was cold and he was an empty can of cream soda.                    Yellow jackets hummed around his gaping mouth, sampling his sugar.                    Or else she was hang gliding over treacherous cliffs while he                    refolded the family chute. She never let him see her without                    her headband on, […] More »

Not realizing it was already occupied, the seal threw itself on the ice floe, ending, for the moment, the pursuit of the orcas. The seal’s momentum slid it straight into the monster’s leg, and feeling that unexpected warmth, it twisted, scrambled on its fins, knocked a small oar into the water, and was at the edge […] More »

Yes, we’re bored—& if I could emotionally afford to leave & if your homeland weren’t burning, I would let you lead me south to one of those dozen American towns called The Palisades— make a life where the close of day, from our chrome balcony, would look like a glitter-bomb lobbed at the horizon— we’d […] More »

I am standing in a cemetery eating a breakfast burrito, Kyla. In its aesthetic wisdom the city irrigates this cemetery by pumping water through black tubes so that our dead, however problematically they lived, god rest them, will reincarnate as big dead trees with burgundy rotting blossoms. Don’t worry, Kyla— I know how death works. […] More »

I was writing a quiz in organic chemistry when you texted me. It was the first time I ever missed a test. Technically, I didn’t miss it because there were five quizzes per term but only the four best counted toward the final mark. You thought it was funny that I was there when you […] More »