Obligatory persimmon
like cinnamon, your sugarrectifies, spreads across poresof my tongue, seeps into veins, as you remaincontinental, experimental. I bite through your fleshthat expels the scent of nothingness.
Simmering, the soup of you finally fillswith proof of texture, Persian sun— no seeds, all bitterrind melted—all motherto sharpened teeth. I felt obliged to writean ode to oriental fruit, even though I'm only vaguely Asian— [End Page 91]
Nicky Sa-eun Schildkraut is a poet, scholar and teacher who lives in Los Angeles. Her original play about the first Korean pop singers, The Fantastic Kim Sisters, was commissioned by East/West Players and will be performed in the fall of 2020. She has a Ph.D. degree in Literature & Creative Writing from the University of Southern California (2012) and an M.F.A. degree in poetry from the University of Florida (2002). Her first book of poetry, Magnetic Refrain, was published in February 2013 by Kaya Press and she is currently completing a second book entitled Until Qualified For Pearl.
