dear mother and father,

tsis txhob chim rau kuv 
kuv tsis tau ua txhaum
and here my lips master its tragedies
by consuming the rainof another’s mouth
sunrise searing my throat her heat like the
fire of your brother my shaman uncle 
cleansing his silver bars in three strips
of joss money and churning water frothing
fever in my spine where she last touched me
i almost burn into a new deity
i saw through the darkest hour
the tail of your wisdom lashing
my third eye into its senses but even through
that specter socket i saw nothing but my lover’s eye staring back

and recalled shaman uncle’s eye
glimpsing into my spirit did he
know i would one day revolt
like this his spiritual instinct
honing in on my erotic urges

did he want to sing me awaylike i was a ghost
would you order him to if it meant your dignity
i suppose i am of ghost ilk; haunted, unseen
unless i bother you something about me unsightly
the shamanic shroud is our passage through realms
but i wear my desire like a pretty veil wear it like
the word cease rusting your tongue sonar-ing
for any sign i might betray my sexuality
defect to your realm where the lemongrass grow peak and straight
but what a tragedy —
don’t you know plants grow toward sunlight
i’d reach for her anyway.