by Ori C. Li

afternoon naps really hit different // I can barely follow the path of the cloud // people should not bike down on this hill // don’t give the hospital more stress // my glasses are dirty again ugh // this chicken won’t shut up // city metal glistens like the salty sea

so alive

everything is too alive

/// /// “hey hey did I ever tell you”

“when we were in quarantine and staying at the hotels // and we were right next to the Ala Wai the staff brought us apples and oranges and we were seeing how far we would throw them [into the Ala Wai]”//

look here bitch have you ever cut your own apples and oranges // have you ever been asked where you come from // have you ever had uncle auntie grandma grandpa put in prison instead of therapy // have you ever been denied entry // let us see for how you like when we deny yours // no one like hear about your settler colonialist and littering skills // obviously you only know how for get people cut your apples and oranges // bumbye we goin kick your tanned ass I give you stink eye my home is not your vacation get the fuck out of the damn bus I no care if you think I crazy you make too much eye contact I write you and make you sorry pwahahahaaaaa

this is the only power I have against this stupid pandemic’s corrosion //

游客真係冇礼貌

14 bus driver so nice today // is it going to be the mild grandpa on duty this afternoon

older couple middle couple young couple // will that ever be me // or is me going to hole up in a studio with six cats // why is all just men and women can I get a potato please //

Japan and Imperialism by James L. Huffman book lying open face on the ground // pages like squashed skin and crinkled knowledge as blood lost //

I used to watch a lot of anime //

//the lie in (almost) april is that Japan didn’t get the chance to plant sakura here //

//the lie is that high school was

/// /// bus comes by // Kaimuki High School says welcome

it is so foreign it might as well have said

//willkommen//

we have been made so foreign no one knows it should say

// ka imu kī and e komo mai //

my school ain’t got no sign // we got a

+++ |gate| +++

instead

// to keep us inside and pretentious //

let’s not forget the building names are names of kingdom thieves

// it’s like they didn’t really want us going into the world //

/// /// black is the color today // cars cars cars // car makes a right turn out of the school // man on bike with green mask // 13 Liliha rolls by on the other side // neon construction grandpa with daughter goes to Sekiya // gray cat with construction green eyes with blue collar // artificial strawberry helmet //

where is my bus ugh // ugh a bug go away ugh //

there are so many things in my way //

Ori C. Li is an undergraduate in MA with interests in writing, drawing and aimlessly wandering around town. She has been featured on It's Lit with PhDJ.

Illustration by Matt Lambert