with softness because of deep oil fish sauce chili flakes soy paste because they can be made tender yet still shimmering purple like Medea only defeated because they can be changed for whoever incapable of loving their rawness and I dislike eggplants because they are not as cool as oysters being desired for their oceanic smell that screams where they come from instead of where they are carried to so when I first came here I intentionally mispronounced my name the way they do it in gossip girls Mom said my name means bright moon in Chinese but the crescent was distorted squeezed and chewed into an oval that fits into the shape of this new

language I dislike eggplants because in middle school my homeroom teacher forced us to finish everything on our plates I swallowed cold hard eggplant slices straight down my throat the vinegar bursted in my mouth tasting like a victory only there should have never been an enemy or a fight so I threw up in the bathroom secretly like a frightened lamb my knees so soft the ceramic tiles merged with my bones and I kept flushing the toilet so no one could hear me puking no one should hear my body asking for help I dislike

eggplants because they made me feel like a tunnel bearing captivity but not knowing how to hold them or release them.