Asking for My Mother’s Portrait

After Sophia Stid

T. Le

---

in which 

she hands me a mirror

The mirror understood:  obsidian eyes to match 

obsidian hair 

Face

coiling into a womb of mis—

pronounced names

Syllables stuck

in teeth 

aligned to be forgotten 

A crevice

for eulogy

when this tongue cracks 

more

than the callous body

Become 

Become the echo 

And survive

Survive  

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T. Le is a Vietnamese American artist. Her art traces the experience of homeland, language, and memory. A finalist for the BLR Spring 2022 Poetry Contest, her poetry appears in SWWIM, Somewhere We Are Human Anthology, and elsewhere. Her art can be found at www.hellotle.com.