Vi Khi Nao and Christine Shan Shan Hou

LADY HERBACEOUS

To all the Azalea, Grandfathers, Shampooers
softened by Evening Oriole

 *

I am open
& vacant for grandmothers scrutinized
by Yeng Sister, Glorious Toothbrush, Lady Herbaceous

 *

It is dark; silhouettes against the Skull of 
the Wooden Paper; I light

a cigar, consenting you to see that I was once a Wooden Sister
to your Servant Cup

I translate  Grapes  as  old Hat, Old Sister
I know how to bottle the Dish, how to Watch 
The Checker Board for Disappearing Gun & Elusive Gentlemen

*

And, Servant Girl,
I have been submissive only  
To a naked 1952; the biosphere now
is mutable like 
six or nine old sisters
wishing to observe the Grapes becoming Bottled travelers of dead stars

 *

You and I get torn apart easily by  the Paper, the Room, 
the Book, the Cup, the Dish, the Coral, the Peony  

Pumping your Hat through
The sewage like a Tea Cup dipped in Oriole
It is very white of you to call the Gentleman
instead of doing it yourself 

Only once, a month ago,
invisibly I take your Shampooer to Keria Japonica 
and make him languish clotheless across a Tea Cup

*

I have a way of laughing at anything that is under five years old
& I am giving you a gift of Evening Glory 
A gift in the name of a Match, an Almanac.

Scenes from a Residency Complex in Japan

There is the old sister
and there is the yeng sister

A peach pot painter 
and a servant girl hiding amongst the azaleas 

A set of wooden cups that separates the grandfather from the grandmother

---

The grandmother plays a game of chess with the servant girl 

Still hiding amongst the azaleas 

---

The grandmother pumps milk into the old sister’s breasts 
for the purpose of nursing the yeng sister

But to her disappointment she cannot get through to her

A wall of poisonous grapes prevent them from ever coming into contact 

---

The grandfather is close to the gun 
but not close enough to commit suicide 

---

The traveler’s breath is horrific due to the great distance between him and his toothbrush 

How many years has it been since he last brushed his teeth?

---

Oh how the gentleman longs for the peach high above his head

How the lady longs for the gentleman on the other side of Paper Mountain

---

The herbaceous peony blooms in the heat of the moment only to be ripped away from the earth then forced

Flower first 

Into the long-necked glass bottle 

---

The yeng sister cannot get a hold of the of the older sister no matter how hard she tries

---

The yeng sister cannot set the house on fire without access to the matches 
or a coral watch to keep time 

How long will it take for the house to burn down?

---

Notice how the grandfather’s pens stand perfectly erect 

Like candles in a cake 

NENUPHAR

Clothed in a vascular habit pulled from the pond
Her Georges Seurat posture annunciates that she isn’t just a human flower
Nor a waterlily pretending to be a Catholic nun
A member of the lily pads family, 
Her pious religion, ironically, is basal angiosperms
Which means she spends all of her worshipful time
Making sure that her sperms don’t end up with a heart attack or a stroke
On their way to an Easter egg hunt
Nor understay at this floral, verdant caravansary
Due to extreme blood vessel or Hail Mary shyness 
Even when a bold insect with red eyes offers their heart to her
She is righteously in the zone 
And, devotes her entire afternoon to seeing the world
With her body fully unfastened like a useless seatbelt, both eyes closed 

A Brief Questionnaire for Our Lady of Lettuce

Are you waiting to be dipped into ranch dressing?

Will the brand be Hidden Valley?

Do you have anxiety around sugar?

Do you have any dietary restrictions?

Are you in need of any dietary interventions?

Does your garment have a low glycemic index?

What is the nutritional value of your garment?

If you nibble off a piece of your garment will it grow back?

What are your overall feelings around being eaten? 

Have you ever been mistaken for the reclusive Lettuce Nun? 

next author >>>

VI KHI NAO is the author of seven poetry collections & of the short stories collection, A Brief Alphabet of Torture (winner of the 2016 FC2's Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize), the novel, Swimming with Dead Stars. Her poetry collection, The Old Philosopher, won the Nightboat Books Prize for Poetry in 2014. Her book, Suicide: the Autoimmune Disorder of the Psyche is out of 11:11 in Spring 2023. The Fall 2019 fellow at the Black Mountain Institute, her work includes poetry, fiction, film and cross-genre collaboration. She  was the 2022 recipient of the Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize.

Christine Shan Shan Hou is a poet and visual artist of Hakka Chinese descent. Their publications include Playdate (White Columns, 2021), The Joy and Terror are Both in the Swallowing (After Hours Editions 2021), Community Garden for Lonely Girls (Gramma Poetry 2017), and “I'm Sunlight” (The Song Cave 2016). Their artwork has been exhibited at White Columns and Deli Gallery in New York City. Find them on Instagram at @hypotheticalarrangements or connect via email at christine[at]christinehou[dot]com.