even sliced wide open
seed scraped out
belly exposed to the world
you are still capable of change —
see the bruised shroud of black
that has descended
upon your buttery flesh
wiry veins sprouting
like a network of murky khlongs
ripe skin darkening into dusk
softening still
all this a sign of decay
to be sure
but also
and importantly
growth

/

Valerie Wong (Instagram: @theglutenfreepoet) was born in Toronto, raised in Hong Kong and lives in New York. As a Third Culture Kid, she is a local and a foreigner wherever she goes. Her poetry has been published by journals and anthologies around the world, including Stanford University’s Mantis, the League of Canadian Poets and New Zealand’s Blackmail Press. She is currently seeking representation for her debut romance novel, The Sweetest Deal.