i have covered the mirrors

hung red banners on the door

salted the corners

burned the sage

painted the ceilings blue

sprayed holy water while

murmuring the catechisms

you taught me on bent knee

and open hard palms

all while drinking the ash water1

from the seedy priest at

the guan yin ma temple2

you would take me to

after sunday school
mother i have thrown away

all my childhood dolls

stuffed scissors and red thread

in every bag i own

stopped my ears each time i heard

my name called at night3

checked the pin on the banana tree4

left the bloodied pads out

whenever the unseen baby wailed5

hung a crucifix on the door

carry a yellow paper amulet

in my pocket still stained

from the priest’s bleeding tongue6

burned the joss sticks and paper

left your favourite food

in front of your altar
so mother when will you

stop knocking each night? 

1 A Taoist practice is to burn a paper talisman, mix the ashes with water, and drink it in order to

imbibe the power of the talisman.

2 Guan Yin Ma is the Buddhist goddess of mercy

3 Pontianaks, a Malay vampiric female ghost, are thought to be afraid of scissors and sharp objects.

Red threads are given at Chinese funerals in order to prevent ghosts from following a person home.

4 Pontianaks are thought to live in banana trees. A way to control them is to hammer a pin onto the tree.

5 Toyols are the ghosts of aborted or miscarried babies who eat blood to survive.

6 Another Taoist practice.