Leaving Chinatown pt. 4

By Reese Staples

I think of you
Freshly brewed jasmine
A sweetened brass kettle 

The back of hmart 
Someone hung omamori 

Intimacy like a shelled fruit
Peel it, 

Then it’s sweet 
Just like the calpico sitting at the back of my fridge 
At home, so I can leave a piece of you anywhere I might find myself
I light a red out the window

To turn around,
And you’re there, like always
Waiting with your stained wine glass
And the pile of pistachios 
I spilled across my persian rug made in China.

I started wearing more grey 
You said that grey reminds you of the sky on a perfect day
Like the beauty of evenings in Russia
Now I’m wearing your Mother’s jacket

Your father doesn’t speak much English
I hope he will understand how greatly I talk of you
How his son is an artist 
Just like he is

Put on more green, 
It brings out your eyes
I wish you could see me dance 
Under those green lights I chose
But you’re gone
Away in Honshu.

But everytime I see a rabbit
I think of you