Discover more from The Insurgence
Sunrise
The needle points East at the place of the womb
where the sun rises and brilliant peonies bloom,
where familiar faces beam with no white in sight,
where childhood memories are a joyous song.
My great-grandpa’s house. Bedecked in red.
Lunar New Year gathering and a family feast.
Xianxia dramas on repeat. They look like me.
They look like home. 我的故乡.
Strip my words of poetic charm, and I will tell you,
“I hate the West. I cannot stand the West.”
What is so good about a bunch of white people
screaming about their unalienable rights while
alienating immigrants and erasing Black rights?
What is so good about capitalism when
the only ones benefitting are the rich white men?
Condemn the rich white men. Condemn the colonists.
Reclaim my figurative gown, and I will tell you,
“Earth is no Paradise, but the East is close.”
The East is where the eyes seek first.
First rays of light in a dewy morn.
These clowns hating on China while
slinging their guns. Didn’t they know
that gunpowder has Chinese roots?
Their ethnocentric sight is a myopic plight.
Sure, China is not perfect. Far from it.
But at least it is not this Divided Place.
Claiming to be democratic. Where is her voice?
Drowned out by six sinners banging gavels.
Wiped out by the so-called pious.
No, they don’t worship the Divine.
They want to be worshipped as divine.
It’s just easy to fool the populace with faith.
The poet praises the dawn.
The anger burns at sunset.
Phoenix Ning is a twenty-one-year-old Chinese novelist, poet, musician, podcaster, book designer, video game creator, and blogger. Her published books include Paragon Seven, Bouquets and Chains, and Eastern Dragons Don't Breathe Fire. Her life mission is to pen the 200+ books in her Phoenix Verse centering queer people of color as the heroes that they are. Her poetry has been published in fifteen literary magazines, and her music is available on all major streaming platforms. Soup Dumpling Express, her podcast on Chinese culture, is available on Spotify. She is currently a grad student studying library science. Find more at https://thephoenixverse.com
.
Subscribe to The Insurgence
A newsletter designed for informative critical writing & celebratory creative writing