"i am from"

By Grace Fang ’23

i am from cloth diapers and rough hands against smooth baby bottoms. 

i am from a fresh start and desperation and flight. i am from naivety, fantasy fiction, scribbles on the corners of notes. i am from arrival and departure, moving and settling. 

i am from ant infestations and shitty landlords. 

i am from the crisp wind and peppermint — 

too bright sun and too hard rain, pin needle heat.

i am from surgical masks and muffled coughs. 

i am from the stir fry and stink eye — 

the chink, clink of pots and pans and fans on the no-longer gas, now electric, stove. 

i am from the bubbling heat of tendering flesh. 

i am from the loudest children and quietest death. i am from the callus of middle fingers and tense necks. i am from the softest cotton and lotioned skin. 

i am from vitamin gummies and sesame-covered treats with red bean filling. 

i am from a country, red and furious and faraway. 

i am from unfulfilled promises and shame and — 

i am from me and you. 

“i am from”

-grace fang ’23

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