JENNIFER WONG

Alexa

Is yoga the best way to lose weight?

Should I dye my hair?

When can I travel to Argentina, to see the waterfall?

It’s been two whole months since I sent my poems

to POETRY and I’ve not heard back.

Alexa, the other day, my boyfriend—

the one I watched Joker with—said that he

wished

I wasn’t Chinese. Now, whatever does that

mean?

And the Oscars. It’s all about Cate Blanchett. Love her

voice, love her sunshine face.

I cannot believe that Taylor Swift has so many followers.

What is happening to this world?

Alexa, did you like ballet when you were young? I had

always wanted to, except that my parents said we were

too working class.

Alexa, teach me how to make California rolls.

Alexa, Alexa, these days I have trouble falling asleep,

and wake up from a bad dream

on repeat: messages that

never_went_through, words that got trapped in my

throat,

please what should I do with my plastic

heart

Jennifer Wong is a writer, poet, and translator (Chinese). She is the author of 回家 Letters Home (Nine Arches Press). Her works have featured in journals including Poetry London, Wasafiri, Pathlight, Asian Review of Books, Asian Cha, Wildness, The Oxonian Review, Sinetheta, Voice and Verse and others. Wong completed a PhD in creative writing from Oxford Brookes University.

Her pamphlet, time difference, is forthcoming this summer from Verve Poetry Press. She is working on her next collection.

Twitter @jennywcreative / Jenniferwong.co.uk