Shanhu Lee

Published in J Journal in 2022

I

On the road we met an Asian woman,

We looked at her facial mask.

II 

From a distant mirror,

in the physical therapy room,

I saw the reflection

of an old Asian woman.

Her dyed black hair was thin

and frail, like mother’s.

III

Oriental women always have a modest body,

someone shouts at an Asian woman

from his Toyota pickup at

the Walmart parking lot.

IV

An Asian mom. 

A tiger mom.

No excuse, no defense.

V 

Alex, my Aikido instructor asked

an Asian woman,

Where are you from originally?

when she said

she was born in Cleveland.

VI 

An Asian woman has become a VP.

A half-Asian woman

has become a VP.

VII

Mulan, Mulan,

A little boy calls an Asian woman,

Her Cinderella shoes

are made of bamboo glass.