Lyn Li Che: Pick of the Week [ed. Terence Winch]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sobriqu(i)ets 

 

On the corner of 12^th and Market, a man says

            Nihao, China and I’m in love,  

I just don’t know it yet. One day, I’ll love  

            the slant of my eyes, their slashing stare.

I’ll love the ching-chong clamour of the old country   

            and my grandfather’s names: both the one  

he was given and the one taken away   

            by the registrar’s pen. None of his siblings  

had the same last name but I’ll love them too:  

            the Che’s and Chen’s and Chong’s, all laid out  

like a racist’s naughty nursery rhyme.  

            I’ll be shook by my buck-toothed gook

reflection. I’ll be cool with my coolie shape  

            and my sideways drape, how easily   

my body zipperheads into anything else –  

            a container of chowmein, a coin slot  

cooter choking open. I’ll be someone’s 

            bamboo chink and kimchee kink, though bitch,  

I’m not even Korean. I’ll stan   

            my Jackie Chan doyenne Chinaman  

brand. I’ll idealize this Oriental disguise.

            I hope I just don’t know it yet.  

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Lyn Li Che was born in Malaysia. Her poems have been published or are forthcoming in Crazyhorse, Michigan Quarterly Review, Indiana Review, Gulf Coast, Waxwing, PANK, Passages North, Tupelo Quarterly, BOAAT, River Styx, and others. A 2021 Kundiman Mentorship Lab Fellow, she currently lives in New York City, where she works in tech strategy.

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                Mohd Noor Mahmud, Siri Kala Kota Bharu series: Main Ayun, acrylic on wood, 2006

Comments

[Howard Bass]

Wow--excellent poem!
Is there a typo in the 4th line from the end: "stan"? Or am I missing something (probably the latter!)?

[Doug Pell]

I’m trying to remember all the things I don’t know yet too.

[Jiwon Choi]

Howard, "stan" is slang and means a mix of stalker and fan. From Eminen's song, Stan.

Not everyone can be Korean, but I think everyone needs to stan this poem and poet!

[Mary Louise Kiernan]

I checked out urban dictionary and found that "stan" is slang for someone who is a very zealous fan. Stan can also be a verb for liking something a great deal.

Lyn Li Che's skill at internal rhyme is like rap but better: "I’ll stan my Jackie Chan doyenne Chinaman..." 

It is so painful/courageous to see all those slurs bundled together.

But isn't that what poetry is about: Truth?

[gracecavalieri]

Painfully beautiful poem, enhanced by the visual-- and may I take a moment to notice the art that, weekly, accompanies the poems with such boisterous beauty and accuracy.
I didn't know Lyn Li Che's work before and now I'll look for it.That's the good part about this weekly anthology.

[Denise Duhamel]

This is a sonic powerhouse of a poem!

[Terence Winch]

Thanks, Grace. I'm glad you appreciate the visual complement
to the poems. But of course you would, as a poet & visual artist yourself.

[Eileen]

I love this beautiful poem and the artwork.

[Don Berger]

"how easily/my body zipperheads into anything else...a coin slot/cooter choking open..."--this poem's an ear's feast.

[lally]

to all of the comments above: ditto

[Terence Winch]

Eileen---thanks for the comment.

[Clarinda]

I love the poem and very much appreciate the irony of learning a new American slang word from it!!

[Abbie]

Excellent poem!

[Susan Francis Campbell]

Wow!
Nice visuals too!

[David Lehman]

I agree with Denise -- the poem is a powerhouse. "like a racist’s naughty nursery rhyme" -- clever, daring, and cheeky at the same time. Rage controlled by wit.

[Petert Kearney]

This is a marvelous poem, but I like the title most of all: (s)nicknames that lurk in the quiet of your mind.

[Joel Weiner]

There's also beautiful poetry expressed in the facial pic of Lyn Li Che.