Looking Glass Poem by Jackie Chou

She rolls its syllables on her tongue
like a precious gift bestowed on her
in infancy

A language not matching
her yellow skin and Chinese features

Watched you from the attic
of her parents' store in Chinatown
since childhood
to learn how to be more like you

Flipped her long black hair
like Christina Applegate's role
in Married with Children

Yet to you she is none of those things
just another target to shoot at
your arrows potent
your hatred deeper than rivers