my grandmother’s love letter to the orient

By Ayana Harscoet '21

musty linens,

guest-room pillow sheathed

in sakura silk, living

room couch patterned

with kanji, smooth strokes

red and gold over and over

and over and dolls,

next to the tv: handmade

the way my great-grandmother

spent her last days, and blue china, of course;

bamboo-patterned miscellanea,

more sakura in the master bedroom,

the bathroom, the downstairs bathroom

with the paper fan above the sink,

and mirrors everywhere, dark

hair, almond eyes.

regardes les yeux amandes,

she says to the new neighbor

over coffee. my eyes are examined.

absent mother: no context.

outside, steady rain

breton as my blood.