Aug. 6, 2023
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i tell my love
By Lisa Shen
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i tell my love
By Lisa Shen
i tell my love / breath words into her palms / tuck a promise behind her ear / take this / read it when your heart is lost on a rail car trailing in all the wrong directions / when you are left alone in the cinema of your mind / watching all your worst memories play on repeat / when your blood riots to wage war against your skin / remember this / that you are winged light / fleck of foam dancing high tide / you are a thousand raindrops refracting sun / you / whose touch blooms preference into desire / pan the camera up where my lips last brushed / remember this / always / remember this
Lisa Shen
Lisa Shen is a writer and spoken word artist, and the Youth Poet Laureate of the City of Mississauga. Her work centers on feminism and gender-based violence, with secondary focuses on Chinese-Canadianism, disability, and queer identity. Lisa placed second in the country at the 2023 Canadian Individual Poetry Slam. She is the winner of the 2021 Mississauga Poetry Slam, the 2022 Ink Movement Slam, and the May 2020 Open Drawer Poetry Contest. Her work has been featured on Rattle, CBC Metro Morning, and Voicemail Poems. Lisa is the Director of Sauga Poetry, Mississauga’s hub for spoken word events.
Image description: A headshot of Lisa Shen in a black tank top and tights, against a dark rainy background.