Star Anise
Stephanie Yue Duhem
my mother with ma la hands each
finger another spice but she
says play nice the way she does do
not make a fuss if they tell you
first day on the job their wife is
chinese too just smile to please them
do not cuss just rise above do
not share the races of your one-
time significant others while
their faces drop to the ground as
if you are a pinch of pepper-
corn over the shoulder listen
to your mother and do not make
a stench my star anise; you will
understand this when you are older.
Stephanie Yue Duhem is a 1.5 generation Chinese-American poet and educator. Her work appears in PANK, Glass, Lunch Ticket, and other journals. She was a winner of Red Wheelbarrow‘s 2018 contest, judged by Naomi Shihab Nye. She can be found online @nameandnoun or at sydpoetry.com.