language poem
to better pronounce my Rs
and Ls
i snipped the membrane
beneath my tongue. another incision for
whiteness. its embrace. just like
the folding of eyelids. the slimming
of a nose. frenectomy. the pseudoscience
of fluency. English as class,
bearing an American
whiff. it is the word. language buttresses financial
salvation. influx empowers
industry. of iron.
of steel. the cars will invert
their wheels. the phones
are a pure surface.
even the rice cookers
have learned
to speak.
apology
the tempestuous murk of night was
shattered by
a crush of snail underfoot,
the crackling like the sound
of a leaf, drained of moisture, or a
thrown-away plastic box.
behind, the wall of weary gospel
tones had begun to fade, voices
rattling
in an auditorium.
oh what a thing to have
shoes on, to be made to feel
so blithe
so impervious.
the hush of an
apology cascades
to the ground.
the slurry of a body
smeared against the metal
grilles
seeps
into the drain.
Bionote
Jonathan Chan is a writer and editor. Born in New York to a Malaysian father and South Korean mother, he was raised in Singapore and educated at Cambridge and Yale Universities. He is the author of the poetry collection going home (Landmark, 2022) and Managing Editor of poetry.sg. He has recently been moved by the writing of Willie Lin, Thomas Merton, and Clint Smith. More of his writing can be found at jonbcy.wordpress.com.
