Skip to main content
By Mai Der Vang

From a recessed hollow
Rumble, I unearth as a creature


Conceived to be relentless.
Depend on me to hunt you


Until you find yourself
Counting all the uncorked


Nightmares you digested.
I will let you know the burning


Endorsed by the effort of
Matches. And you will claw


Yourself inward, toward a
Conference of heat as the steam


Within you surrenders, caves
You into a cardboard scar.


Even what will wreck you
Are your mother’s chapped lips.


Even to drip your confession
Of empty rooms. I know about


Your recipe of rain, your apiary
Ways. Trust me to be painful.


Source: Poetry (June 2017)

  • Living

Poet Bio

Mai Der Vang
Mai Der Vang is the author of Yellow Rain (Graywolf Press, 2021) and Afterland (Graywolf Press, 2017). See More By This Poet

More By This Poet

More Poems about Living

Browse poems about Living Get a random poem