2002-04-16 - 12:47 a.m.

The Word Was My Companion

In the flickering suburban night,

Not yet acquainted with the name of the feeling,

I did not dream, but commonly imagined

My future as a teacher or journalist,

Not thinking to address

Whether there would be a man.

My family would always speak the same language,

In no way turn alien to one another,

And there would never be a poisonous city

Where people demanded psychic space.

There would be no violations,

Only the rules. There would be no urge

To walk into an unknown cathedral & disappear.

We'd stick tight as a cocoon,

And there being more books in the world

Than I could read in a lifetime

(And no such thing as the slow

Silent robbery of that lifetime),

It would always be like this moment,

Me and the blank page, hugged by night,

Planning the grammatical future.

--Adrienne Su