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The Orient by Kimiko Hahn | Poetry Foundation

poetryfoundation.org · 1,448 words · saved by 1 readers

Kimiko Hahn is the author of 10 books of poetry, including Foreign Bodies (W. W. Norton, 2020); Brain Fever (Norton, 2014); Toxic Flora (Norton, 2010); The Narrow Road to the Interior (Norton, 2006), a collection that takes its title from Bashô’s famous poetic journal; The...

Share Inside, the radio rides from “I Walk the Line” to “Big Yellow Tazi.” Because the door is open, the outside traffic rhythmically blurs each song. I sit in my aerobic leggings and tee waiting for a cup of coffee and buttered bagel. The girl behind the counter switches up to The Temptations. Your husband called here Monday—looking for you, she says loudly in my direction. She smiles. the air is sweet with women—even the men who wander in to order tea or shoot pool are this kind of sweet. And it doesn't have to do with orientation . The barkeeper knows I'm married to a man but suspects I may

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