I want to be there in the moments
When accents slip, when we nestle
In warm corners and home
Falls in our voices
I want to hear consonants grow tender
Puffs of air on t’s and c’s
Dissolving into the dark
I want our mouths to caress
Every lengthening vowel
Before we let them go
OK, you say
Two syllables wrapped around
The state of California
The state of Michoacán
OK, I say, and in my words
The port of Amoy
The port of Singapura
This is for every teacher
Who thought college would smooth
Our parents’ forked tongues, and crush
Our infant throats
I push my mouth to yours and swallow
These sounds they never guessed we’d make
Leow Hui Min Annabeth is a Chinese settler in a post-colonial country, an anglicised product of the former British Empire. She is preoccupied with language politics and the identities of nth-generation immigrant descendants. Her essays have appeared in Speculative Fiction 2013, The WisCon Chronicles, POSKOD.SG, Etiquette, and Bitch. With many scruples but a lot of fierce love as well, she calls Singapura home for now.
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