POEM WRITTEN ON FATHER’S DAY

I want to tell you
about the first time I went to a funeral

for a father, how his wife kneeled
in front of her god like a soft sacrifice,

and her girls unzipped laughter, braided hair,
drank incense. I stood there

in the corner, watching everything sharpen
and soften, so that one day, I could write it down

in this swollen, thorned poem. I want
to tell you that I loved my father

that I’d eat all the salt
cutting into my cheeks.

But last summer, he almost left forever—
my lungs a wildfire. He doesn’t know

how many vowels he devours
from my poems, how he used to be my god.

And what kind of father
teaches his daughter how to be ruthless.

What kind of daughter
writes this poem on Father’s Day.

Grace Q. Song is a Chinese-American writer from New York. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Half-Mystic, The Shallow Ends, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, and [PANK]. In 2019, her poem titled “The Summer of Girls” was nominated for Best of the Net. A high school junior, she enjoys listening to ABBA and drinking hot chocolate.