Shaman Song for a Bisexual Specter by Phoua Lee
dear mother and father,
tsis txhob chim rau kuv
kuv tsis tau ua txhaum
and here my lips master its tragedies
by consuming the rain of another’s mouth
sunrise searing my throat her heat like the
fire of your brother my shaman uncle
cleansing his silver bars in three strips
of joss money and churning water frothing
fever in my spine where she last touched me
i almost burn into a new deity
Phoua Lee explores the intersections of Hmong cosmology, diaspora, and sexuality in her new poem. This piece can be read in it’s entirety on the NYSEAN partner Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s website here.
