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THE COCK'S WIFE Marilyn Chin In the end ofthe millennium, the cock is still beautiful. He crows in the morning in his magnificent red beard. But the cock's wife was shorn ofher dazzling pink overcoat, To be bathed in sea salt, laid bare for the imperial table. Head held high, she feigned ignorance ofher own demise. Her tiny yellow fluffies touched wingspans, vowed to avenge her. They expounded on dialectical points, lollygaged at The Hague, Scratched and squawked, pecked at ankles. But stood silent as the masses devoured her. Aghast, they fled for their lives, Then paraphrased her in a fable. [Meridians:jeminism, race, transnationalism 2002, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 70]©2002 by Wesleyan University Press. AU rights reserved. 7° BOLD BEAUTY Marilyn Chin She opened her eyes and he was already within her. Though the lore said that a mere kiss would suffice. The song distorted on the tongue ofthe soothsayer— no need to struggle, he would take her away on his white, white steed and panniers ofriches. In veils and swathing she would be reborn as queen. Out in the ramparts the last village seared. Her parents cried out for their lost girlchild, "Ts'ai Yen, Ts'ai Yen," but the sky did not answer. Her thin jade bracelet shattered into five dazzling pieces, one for each element that made up the stars. A constellation ofblack hair was her last missive. In antechamber and darkness she feels him again. The tale is the rapture ofthe waterclock, pain which burns into pleasure, burns into the hours. Our heroine turns over and slits the throat ofher beloved. She would avenge her family, her sovereignty, her dead. She who survives to tell the tale shall hold the power. (Meridians:jèminism, race, transnationalism 2002, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 71]©2002 by Wesleyan University Press. All rights reserved. 71 KALI-FORNIA Marilyn Chin Marilyn Mei Ling Chin You are a Goddess You beautiful swine You necklace ofheads You girdle ofpast deeds You have a castle With a vestibule You have your fresh lovers O how you wear them like nipple-rings You have your listlessness Its dull ache You have your fine breasts Your hard maids You have your strong presences Better than absences Better than abscesses You have your coital fire Behold, Great Mother Your black rope ofhair Behold: breasts, crotch Scrotum, harbor, sun Your poems will write themselves on parchment Your manuscripts will illuminate Any moment now The Diaspora will form a new dialect Your tears will turn into saltlick You can walk forever naked On the island ofCaucasus Without harm [Meridians:/eminism, race, transnationalism 2002, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 72-74]©2002 by Wesleyan University Press. AU rights reserved. 72 You have youF disciples Tanned and ephemeral You have your death The inevitable long drive They will paint you black They will paint you white They'll paint your pink yoni attached To his blue lingam Refute that a woman's body is impure Refute that a woman's body is filthy Although a woman's body is filthy They adorn you beautiful IfGod is a woman Why does the world remain Smug And male? Slouched on the blue-cloud divan The Lord ofSleep Flips the channels Ofconscience A clapboard church in flames A thousand arms ofthe Kapo Lowered again, again On a bloodied noggin Ifyou hate There will be a smoldering silence Ifyou love There will also be A purifying furnace KALI-FORNIA y¡ You have a surfeit ofchoices You have no choice A boon ofblood-red hibiscus Stains the burial grounds The hurly-girly orphan bands chant Reverence to her Reverence to her And your flesh ignites Into dreams 74 MARILYN CHIN BAD DATE Marilyn Chin Bad Date I won't say where I went to dinner, Because my host is a Sado-Scorpio. He served me Perfume River Ratatouille From Mrs. Min's Village Wok video. He pretended to be well-meaning. His décor flaunted multiculturalTwo shriveled heads from Borneo, A cornice from a temple in Kyoto, Red Mansion sex pics on tusks, Hirohito's mangled sword on the mantle. He squeezed my knee with gusto, Then, invited me back...

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