poem

by Jen Soong

Born in the year of the rabbit

tù zi 兔子

lucky, they say

hard work, I huff

Been running all my life —

wolves, foxes, inky terrors

salivating on sight

chasing me into the woods

Slow like a snowshoe hare

(not speedy like Mr. Jackrabbit)

if I stop to pause, fucking pause

I might be swallowed whole

Run, rabbit, run!

păo păo! 跑跑

don’t glance back

keep sprinting

until all that’s left is

my bloody carcass

White silky foot

good luck charm

for someone else

Better luck next time

时来运转

Jen Soong is a writer based in Northern California. Her poems have appeared in Ample Remains, Voicemail Poems, and the lickety~split. She earned her MFA in creative writing from UC Davis, and her memoir-in-progress is a reckoning of myth, migration, and memory. Find her work at jensoong.com.