Hapa
- Hapa
flush against the sycamore
of blood type, increased risk
or immunity for specific diseases,
or the thousands of basic biochemical
ways I painted my nails gold
I said, who would be dunked
into that code of a polypeptide or an rna chain
like a pearl without eyes
like a son with blue eyes
pushing the soul through bicycle spokes
it spoke with a vibrato
that embarrassed me
a function in the organism [End Page 122]
orangutan nanny in the garage
my pleasure—a disappointment
a golden wig
myself singing to the butt crack of the sky
that denotes a part or fragment of something,
your child who I choose
to love like a dreadnought
a sailor with braids on his body
lonely for us both [End Page 123]
Sarah Gambito is the author of the poetry collections Delivered (Persea Books) and Matadora (Alice James Books). She is Assistant Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at Fordham University and co-founder of Kundiman, a nonprofit organization serving Asian American poets.
