Notes On Longing

Notes On Longing

It smells of after-rain tonight.
Duck bones, a wounded egg on rice.
On the corner, there is a shop
that makes keys, keys that open
human doors, doors that lead
to rooms that hold families
of four or seven who sit at a table.
There is a mother who brings
sizzling flounder on a wide platter
for the family whose ordinary
mouths have been made to sing.

This poem appears in Tina Chang's collection Half-Lit Houses (Four Way Books, 2004).
Dom (Variations) (2013) © Laura F. Gibellini, MTA NYCT Fresh Pond Road, Forest Avenue, and Seneca Avenue Station.
Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design. Photo by Stephen S. Gross.

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