Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Self-portrait as Money Foods soy sauce chicken” by Grace.

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Self-portrait as Money Foods soy sauce chicken

By Freddy Hyun Smith

I hang perfectly

still, my frame

a window. These signs

have always been here.

Last names. Nourishment. A simmering

honey. I am drenched

in it, sticky with soy,

basking in the glow

of my little sun. This is the closest

I have ever been to home. Here I shine,

always. People are greedy

for me. Tomorrow, another chicken.

I hang

a god.

There is nothing

new under the sun.

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Copyright © Grace

Previously published in Chinatown Stories.

Grace is a Hong Kong-born settler living on the traditional and Treaty territory of the Anishinabek people, now known as the Chippewa Tri-Council comprised of the Beausoleil, Rama, and Georgina Island First Nations. Her debut poetry collection, The Language We Were Never Taught to Speak, is a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Find her on Instagram and Bluesky @thrillandgrace.

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