Those old sad ballads always meant too much

By | 13 May 2024
Wallowing was scripted in

melodic minor scales

Rising strings to a chorus of

climax always made us weep.


A kiss must end in marriage

some devotion and a little love

Resulting in children (sons of course)

[never mind the gei dao]1

If it ends any other way

Miss Saigon has to die.


Confucius in your fortune cookie

Confusion in my brain.


Thank the gods our daughters now sing

many different songs


They know that Erato was the result

of mummy’s one-night stand

the heart that bruises

the breathless aches

a primal reaction to biological loss

when another limited-edition ovum

falls

                into

                            sewerage








    

  1.  Cantonese for ‘chicken coup’, the informal and pejorative term for ‘brothel’. ↩
    2.
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‘Emily Sun’ lives and works on the unceded lands of the Wadjuk Noongar people (Perth, Western Australia). Her works have been published in various anthologies and journals including Meanjin, Cordite Poetry Review, APJ, Mascara, and Growing up Asian in Australia. Her debut poetry collection Vociferate 詠 (Fremantle Press) was listed as one of the Australian Book Review’s Books of the Year in 2021, was Highly Commended in the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, and was shortlisted in the Western Australia Premier’s Book Award in 2022. She is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Western Australia, where she is working on a historical fiction project. Emily is the co-editor/publisher of Hello Keanu! A Poetry Anthology (2024).

https://iamemilysun.com/

More by Emily Sun on Cordite Poetry Review →

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