Shanhu Lee

It’s none of your business.

Whether I am married or not.

It’s my life. It’s my choice.

Whether I have children or not.

Whether I am heterosexual or not.

Some choose one way or another.

Whether I am sexual or asexual.

Is one way better than the other?

Some choose one way or another.

Who said we should have it all?

Is one way better than the other?

What if I don’t want to have it all?

Who said we want to have it all?

Who defines my happiness?

I don’t want to have it all.

Is one side of the coin better than the other?

Who defines my happiness?

You cannot have both sides of the coin.

Is one side of the coin better than the other?

This is the law of thermodynamics:

You cannot have both sides of the coin.

It’s my life. It’s my choice.

That is the law of thermodynamics.

It’s none of your business.

Shanhu Lee

The ancestors live in the warm Siberian thaw in spring,

With rising carbon dioxide and methane.

The ancestors sing in the deforested Amazon rainforest.

Moonlights rain in the wildfire.

The ancestors roam in the yard with Canadian geese,

white-tailed deers, and hellebore flowers.

The ancestors bloom in blue, red, and white coral reefs.

They hide in the Forthesia bush with cardinals.

The ancestors play Nintendo with children and chickens,

in the Sunday afternoon in the kitchen.

The ancestors cook shiitake and chanterelle risotto,

For my fifty-fourth birthday.

The ancestors climb ice in the Boulder Canyon in January.

They tell me to watch out for blackbirds.

The ancestors traverse to the moon. They live with

two ­rabbits, and a flute made of moonstone.