The teacup with the broken
handle: no longer missing.
Arriving in my mother’s hand
as she sets it down for service.
Then the dish in the air touches
down at its place on red carpet
and the Fisher Price karaoke mic
rights and repairs itself. It goes
from low to high note before
my father swerves toward it—
the color leaves his temples now,
and he catches the autumn-day
bouquet as the man of honor.
He puts it down beside my mother,
who turns toward the television. Static
wrangles out the wrinkles on her brow.
She pours back tea and quiets down,
then drives in reverse to the big box
store. The bouquet’s in her arms
then on the shelf. A fake bouquet
with no purpose but its own: to sit
and look beautiful. To remind us all
of paradise. Before she wants that.
Added: Friday, June 27, 2025 / Used with permission.
Yanyi is the author of Dream of the Divided Field (One World) and The Year of Blue Water (Yale), winner of the 2018 Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize. His work has been featured in or at NPR’s All Things Considered, New York Public Library, Tin House, Granta, and A Public Space. The recipient of fellowships from Asian American Writers’ Workshop and Poets House, he holds an MFA in Poetry from New York University. He teaches poetry at the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers and has been directing the Asian American Literary Archive since 2023.
Image Description: Yanyi smiles slightly toward the camera as a beam of morning sun shines on him. He has short black hair and wears glasses with thin black frames and a navy blue collarless buttoned shirt.
