Poetry from Kyle Liang

HUNGER

I spent the whole night
picking pieces of rice
off my shirt to imagine
what it might be like
to starve.

But in the end, I fell
asleep because I was tired,
not because I wanted
to forget about the hunger
in my stomach
refusing to die.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BROTHER

After Cao Zhi’s Quatrain in Seven Steps

If you poured our blood into the ocean
It would rise or sink to the same level
Like liquids we too can be disrupted
Knowing that we will find our way back

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OLD FRIEND

After Li Bai’s Thoughts in the Silent Night

I sometimes imagine you as the night fog
Suspended above my porch light
I dream that you will be waiting to greet me
In the morning as droplets on my window

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BROTHER, I’M HUNGRY

 

cracked knuckles       quietly bleeding over        steaming

pot softly       blanketed       by brothers      hand catching

tears       diving headfirst       into patience       for mother

chopsticks         clicking         stirring        thin        ramen

twisting      into hunger      gē gē     wǒ hěn     è     wǒ hěn

è         wǒ hěn è          ni kěbǐ kěyǐ        zuò dōngxī       chī

canyons              dug between               ribs                pale

winds            standing          shirtless         outside         in

brothers blue jeans         cuffed       four times        ripped

eight      tripped nine      threads        dragging       behind

leaving tracks                                                 through dirt

footprints               trying                to walk              away

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLASSMATES

Let them laugh at the way
your eyes slant.
Let them mimic your face
with their hands

stretching the sides of their skin.
Let them throw rocks at your head
and break your favorite
Lego man keychain, but never let

them try to stop the bleeding
after it’s started.
Only you can do that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kyle Liang is a 22-year-old, first-generation-born Asian American and author of the forthcoming chapbook, ‘How to Build a House,’ winner of the 2017 Swan Scythe Press Chapbook Contest. His work has appeared in a number of places, including Stirring, Voicemail Poems, Apogee and more. Kyle is also a Best of the Net nominee, playwright, actor, and teary-eyed PA student struggling to keep up with the demands of the healthcare field and grad school. You can find more of his work at kyleliang.com.