"Yellow as Tumeric, Fragrant as Cloves"

Three poems of mine have been published in Yellow as Tumeric, Fragrant as Cloves: A Contemporary Anthology of Asian American Women's Poetry (2008) by Deep Bowl Press, alongside such poets as Wang Ping and Kimiko Hahn.

I submitted these poems when I identified as a woman, and they are published under my given name, Alysha Wood. Although I no longer identify as a woman, these poems speak to the silence and the struggle of being socialized as female and as the daughter of an immigrant mother.

Two of the poems, written in Thai and English, are from Teakwood & Coal, a chapbook written as part of my undergraduate senior thesis. The final poem is from a more current chapbook, IS THIS JANUARY, which is due out from Corollary Press within the next year. I would like to thank T.J. Anderson III and Akilah Oliver, under whose mentorship and teaching these poems were written.

Copies of the anthology are available for ordering here.