she whispers,
I'm good at intimacy
with strangers ...
with strangers ...
I see the light go out
in the escort's eyes
behind my back
they whisper slanted eyes ...
in a dream
I unzip my skin,
put on another
(Note: Highly Commended, 5th Kokako Tanka Competition, 2014. Below is a comment by the Judge: In "behind my back," the effect of verbal abuse is communicated in
striking fashion, through a dream, which somehow connects us all. --
commentary by the judge, Owen Bullock, Kokako, 22, 2015 )
Note: "Scream from the Shadows" is the first themed section of Blueline and Red Thread, the first collection of sociopolitical tanka. And you can read the preceding tanka here.
The phrase, "slanted eyes," is a racist slur that refers to a person of Asian descent, especially of Chinese descent.
ReplyDeleteThe following is my haiku sequence about this issue of racism, which was first published on Whispers:
Racialized Chinese Canadians
a haiku sequence written in response to The Accidental Asian by Eric Liu, Bill Clinton's deputy domestic policy adviser and speech writer
chinks go home!
all she sees in the mirror
are slanted eyes
chinks go home!
the spit on my face
cold as snow
chinks go home!
again and again
he scrubs his hand