"Divergence" by Diana Khoi Nguyen

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend May 31, 2019   Divergence   Diana Khoi Nguyen

Pristine the ash                                   no one has touched yet before wind sweeps it along                         across the altar                          dusting chrysanthemum and bees before it is swept off again                                                                               the way the body burns             part by part particle by particulate                                                               particularly diverging                                                               its tiny cinders                         of moth wings. After sound                                        there is no sound                                                              a wolf sanctuary            void of howling                         headlights on the winding road picking up snow                                      a tuft falling on the heron                          as her wingtips dip into water. Evolution:                              bat wing                          whale fin                          my hand shielding myself from light as I adjust                                                               frames along the wall barefoot on the black bookcase                                      the heat of my footprint              disappearing though no hand wipes it. In taking inventory of what's left                          what the dead have cleared in space              a question                                       like the body of a boy curled inside his dog's bed                                       a boy filling his own rice bowl                                       until he doesn't want to anymore.                         I want to be beside him in the dark to hear his voice again                                       to stop seeing him on the street                         in the back row                                                of a classroom where I teach.             Is there no end to this need mushrooms inching along                          blades of grass after a field of rain                                                              the heron fishing wings spread to lure prey into her shade. In war they say We're not the top species because we're nice. In life I say Let me come closer                                      even if it kills me.            Copyright © 2019 Diana Khoi Nguyen. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on May 31, 2019, by the Academy of American Poets. About This Poem   "In thinking about death as the ultimate divergence from the realm of the living, I found myself reflecting on how the ashes of my brother diverged from themselves, each other, himself—into the Pacific Ocean, a place along whose shores I often find myself. There, in the gift-detritus of the sea, I see parts of once-living and now-living things, as well as a bird flying low across the sound, so low it nearly merges with its reflection. Divergence, as sibling to convergence, how one structure exists but takes "a different direction" across species. How its function similarly diverges—the hand which wipes away a tear is also the hand which wields a hammer." —Diana Khoi Nguyen   Diana Khoi Nguyen is the author of Ghost Of (Omnidawn, 2018), which was a finalist for the 2018 National Book Award and L.A. Times Book Prize, as well as winner of the 2019 Kate Tufts Discovery Award and Colorado Book Award. She's a writer-in-residence at the University of Tennessee and lives in Knoxville. Poetry by Nguyen   Ghost Of (Omnidawn, 2018) "Things We Carry on the Sea" by Wang Ping "Water in Love" by Ed Bok Lee "Kingdom Animalia" by Aracelis Girmay May Guest Editor: Victoria Chang   Thanks to Victoria Chang, author of Barbie Chang (Copper Canyon Press, 2017), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month's weekdays. Read a Q&A with Chang about her curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038

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