Poetry: “triptych for hypothetical deceased evil mother” by Lindsay Li
Here, Lindsay Li takes the art form of a picture carved on three panels hinged together and applies it to written work. The three condensed, columnar moments hinge upon the hypothetical death of the speaker’s “evil mother.” In the first, the daughter prepares for the mother’s death; in the second, the speaker entwines images marked by the color red, teeth, and fingernails; and in the third, the speaker leans into a childlike voice, writing about longing for their mother, then seeing her in a dream. The effect of these columns is an accurate depiction of multiple truths lying side by side: “妈 called / her children ‘issue’… / until they / were no longer her / problem” and “妈 taught me / how to spit discarded / fangs into napkins” and “good / things come in pairs.”
Read Li’s poem below.
triptych for hypothetical deceased evil mother
妈妈 — mommy, affectionate term for mother
百善孝为先 — “of all virtues, filial piety comes first”
好事成双 — “good things come in pairs”
Lindsay Li
Lindsay Li (she/her) is a Chinese American writer from the Bay Area. In her free time, she goes down Wikipedia rabbit holes and writes too much about summer. Her work is published or forthcoming in Frontier Poetry, The Connecticut River Review, Eucalyptus Lit, and more. She is currently a poetry reader for The Adroit Journal.
