Book about Rape That Doesn’t Have Any Flowers or Plants on the Cover
by Jane Shi
“There are photographs
Of small children laughing in black
and white that people stop and cry at
in museums but ignore in homes.”
—Cindy Juyoung Ok
It would be the most boring book of poems
with the most boring cover. A stack of papers.
Maybe a close-up of the lonely staple pressing
the family together. Side by side, they left
on a plane for that new country.
There were only a few inches of snow.
Bàba wiped the windows of the car. No one had hit anyone yet—
why did it feel like the child had already packed her bags.
ABOUT THE CREATOR
Photo credit: Joy Gyamfi
Jane Shi is a poet, writer, and organizer living on the occupied, stolen, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlil̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. She is the author of the chapbook Leaving Chang’e on Read (Rahila’s Ghost Press, 2022) and the winner of The Capilano Review’s 2022 In(ter)ventions in the Archive Contest. Her debut poetry collection echolalia echolalia (Brick Books, 2024) was shortlisted for the Raymond Souster Award.
Her writing can also be found in Read This When Things Fall Apart (AK Press, 2025), We Are Each Other’s Liberation: Black and Asian Feminist Solidarities (Haymarket Books, 2025), Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry (Arsenal Pulp Press), the Disability Visibility Project blog, The Offing, and Seventh Wave Mag, among others. She wants to live in a world where love is not a limited resource, land is not mined, hearts are not filched, and bodies are not violated.
Website: www.janeshi.org
Instagram: @pipagaopoetry