Motherland

I had no itinerary apart from a visit to the island with the horses, a treat for my last day.



RECENTLY PUBLISHED


Mist and clouds drape over a mountain landscape

Hot Spring Ghost Story

My father, Yongli, told me this story, but I think he left some things out.


A backlit window with mini blinds casts shadow on a made bed. Image is black and white

Quarter Juice

I shoved the lacy bra I kept under my mattress deep into my backpack, sandwiched between my Sequential II textbook and my ancient shared copy of The Iliad, and decided it was time to white out “Brisma + Kelly 4ever” on my Jansport.


A blurry image of a deer is set on a dark background, with the title "The Deer" and the author's name superimposed over the deer

Excerpt from The Deer

A deer was something you saw in your backyard through red binoculars, nibbling away the berries meant for your mother’s birthday.


Cover of Amnesia of June Bugs, featuring a clockface in the center and other abstract shapes in orange and gray

The Hungarian Divorce in Seven Movements

Before the great split, they went out clubbing at glitzy boums (aka discothèques), sipping on delicate café au laits, the foam in their mugs forming hearts and arrows, portraits of le Pont Neuf, the Musée d’Orsay, and La Défense.


Close-up of black, beige, and red asphalt

Texas

Neither of us were drunk. It was just dark outside, the streets narrow, and we were turning a bend, and then the quiet thump beneath us, like a balloon deflating.