Nora Hikari Shao
from ANC064: DEAD NAMES
Susan's Place Passing Guide
Crossing your legs at the
knees is a way. Walking with your feet
in line is a way. Learning to breathe
one lung at a time is a way.
knees is a way. Walking with your feet
in line is a way. Learning to breathe
one lung at a time is a way.
Hold each one separately.
That’s all it takes — hop
on one leg over a canyon,
clap just your right hand —
that’s all it takes.
That’s all it takes — hop
on one leg over a canyon,
clap just your right hand —
that’s all it takes.
Spell your name. Now take the vowels
out and spell your real name.
We make ourselves
into little witches doing this.
We make a little magic for ourselves
out of moonshine and mud and paradoxes.
A girl I loved once told me
about the five elements and the pentacle,
before reaching into my throat and
closing up my heart. A girl I loved once
shaved my head in the bathroom and said
she had never seen anything quite so handsome.
out and spell your real name.
We make ourselves
into little witches doing this.
We make a little magic for ourselves
out of moonshine and mud and paradoxes.
A girl I loved once told me
about the five elements and the pentacle,
before reaching into my throat and
closing up my heart. A girl I loved once
shaved my head in the bathroom and said
she had never seen anything quite so handsome.
It’s okay, we all make mistakes in our pursuit
of Machiavellian ingenuity.
One day I’ll get myself right, I say,
to a pack of dogs who won’t listen.
One day I’ll ripen myself
in the hard starlight, mother all over again,
and this time no one answers except myself.
of Machiavellian ingenuity.
One day I’ll get myself right, I say,
to a pack of dogs who won’t listen.
One day I’ll ripen myself
in the hard starlight, mother all over again,
and this time no one answers except myself.
Promotion to the Governing Body
1. The Finches
Picture this: me, eight years old, no pigtails
or anything, sitting in a field with three
dozen finches. I clap and they all jump.
I clap again and they jump again. I’m laughing
and laughing and clapping and the finches keep jumping.
Picture this: me, eight years old, no pigtails
or anything, sitting in a field with three
dozen finches. I clap and they all jump.
I clap again and they jump again. I’m laughing
and laughing and clapping and the finches keep jumping.
2. Theodicy of Command
Look in the mirror, see something shaped by the winds
of “cosmic forces.” Read: uncontrollable.
Control and evil could be called the same name.
Evil is banal. Evil is a haircut. Evil is not answering the question.
Evil is demanding you make eye contact.
It’s just about chain of command. The wrong person
in control of the right thing is an evil to everyone else. The
finches were just a way for me to jump rank,
a way for me to be evil.
I’m not allowed to want these things, but I do.
I want to say when the finches jump. I want to say where my hips
end, how long my hair is, what kind of
socks I will wear. I want to give myself my own name.
I want to be the one who says when I’ll die.
Look in the mirror, see something shaped by the winds
of “cosmic forces.” Read: uncontrollable.
Control and evil could be called the same name.
Evil is banal. Evil is a haircut. Evil is not answering the question.
Evil is demanding you make eye contact.
It’s just about chain of command. The wrong person
in control of the right thing is an evil to everyone else. The
finches were just a way for me to jump rank,
a way for me to be evil.
I’m not allowed to want these things, but I do.
I want to say when the finches jump. I want to say where my hips
end, how long my hair is, what kind of
socks I will wear. I want to give myself my own name.
I want to be the one who says when I’ll die.
Nobody Bothered To Ask Laundry Where It Wants To Live
“Laundry doesn’t live on the floor.” Who are you
to say where laundry lives.
Laundry lives where it finds itself, which is to say
on the floor. It’s fine to belong where you’ve been put.
It’s fine to find yourself in the wrong place and say
“this is where I am now.” The place designed
for laundry is the hamper, which is two feet to the left,
but how could we in our arrogance expect it
to make it those two feet. Maybe it doesn’t need
to obey the demands of design. Maybe what I need
from my laundry is several catastrophes.
Laundry doesn’t live on the floor but what’s it doing right there then?
Assert where it should be. It won’t change the fact
that it lives on the floor. Laundry won’t obey.
It won’t live only where you want it to.
Laundry will do as it pleases, which is to live on the floor.
to say where laundry lives.
Laundry lives where it finds itself, which is to say
on the floor. It’s fine to belong where you’ve been put.
It’s fine to find yourself in the wrong place and say
“this is where I am now.” The place designed
for laundry is the hamper, which is two feet to the left,
but how could we in our arrogance expect it
to make it those two feet. Maybe it doesn’t need
to obey the demands of design. Maybe what I need
from my laundry is several catastrophes.
Laundry doesn’t live on the floor but what’s it doing right there then?
Assert where it should be. It won’t change the fact
that it lives on the floor. Laundry won’t obey.
It won’t live only where you want it to.
Laundry will do as it pleases, which is to live on the floor.
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