"Slow Down" by Shell Myers

In Taiwan


Usually I’d be brown / but here I burn red / it hurts to breathe in the sun / but this is where I come from / air
purer than China, a country / my mother refuses to visit / for pride / over dividends and squid oracles / why
isn’t this considered / a world wonder / she asks / fanning herself / with rice paper / the swirls in your cup /
have all the answers

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Elizabeth Tsung's chapbook all girls will not feel pretty at some point is available at Ugly Sapling Press (2016). Feel free to connect with her on twitter @elizabethtsung.

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Shell Myers was born in Elyria, Ohio, but now calls Philadelphia their home. They are a queer multimedia artist, voted most artistic in the 8th grade. They are passionate about emotional sensitivity, play, and subverting toxic masculinity. Shell is the Administrative Coordinator of Art & Art History at Drexel University. When they're not putting in that 9 to 5, they make time to create collages, paintings, photographs and drawings. You can find more of their work at www.shellmyers.com