<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The tiles beneath are
\n In repeat since the first deaths.
\n And wondrous hues<\/p>\n
I will never be beautiful.
\nCloister of traps.
\n Which are again
\nDelicate designs.
\nI am taller. A blue flower
\n The year familiar as peering
\nBacksplash tiles with text
\n And I am flourishing<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
A coagulated red that I have seen
\n Familiar as the greens pinks
\n Of mother\u2019s garden.<\/p>\n
In the light of my room. <\/p>\n The deer came home with questions Who tamed the birds Whose mother was it Whose mouth The glass turned back into sand. From above, a whisper of the scene\u2014<\/p>\n A woman in the yard adoring all the hanging pears\u2014 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Way above the ashes mother is assembling in the field. Returning in this blemish brother leaping into the air Father not yet entering the view\u2014<\/p>\n The whereabouts of uncle Nyiaj still unknown And what of cousin Maiv in her batik dress Upon the altar I lay my only gift\u2014<\/p>\n One iron egg in the mouth of a tiger. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Khaty Xiong is a Hmong American poet from Fresno, CA. She is the author of Poor Anima<\/em> (Apogee Press, 2015) and three poetry chapbooks: Ode to the Far Shore<\/em> (Platypus Press, 2016), Deer Hour<\/em> (New Michigan Press, 2014), and Elegies<\/em> (University of Montana, 2013). She has received a fellowship from MacDowell Colony and a grant from the Ohio Arts Council. Her work has been published in POETRY<\/em>, the New York Times, How Do I Begin?: A Hmong American Literary Anthology<\/em>, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tapestry | Abundance | Altar Call<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[61],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thespectacle.wustl.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMy insides a set of halls
\n Mother and father\u2019s
\nUninviting. Regardless
\nAt the clip of my knee.
\n Into a garden window
\nThat reads upon the wondrous hues.<\/em>
\n In the light of my room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n <\/p>\nAbundance<\/h4>\n
\n budding on their sleeves.<\/p>\n
\n to stop preening
\n for hellish praise?<\/p>\n
\n who whipped her crown
\nupon the steering wheel
\n on North and Valentine?<\/p>\n
\n was whiter than stone?<\/p>\n
\nThe sand turned its back from the body.<\/p>\n
\n her hands on their bellies
\n yellowing
\n swelling right before her eyes.<\/p>\n
\n
\n <\/p>\nAltar Call<\/h4>\n
\nA poor hut for light of judgement. An eschewing door.<\/p>\n
\nand trapped.<\/p>\n
\nwhich must be peaceful. The vocal chords in pieces.<\/p>\n
\nflying through the cellars?<\/p>\n
\nSnakes in ashen script. The days.
\nMisfit tapestries sold by the yard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n