Jane Wong
I Put On My Fur Coat
And leave a bit of ankle to show. 
I take off my shoes and make myself
comfortable. I defrost a chicken
and chew on the bone. In public, 
I smile as wide as I can and everyone
shields their eyes from my light. 
At night, I knock down nests off
telephone poles and feel no regret.
I greet spiders rising from underneath
the floorboards, one by one. Hello, 
hello. Outside, the garden roars
with ice. I want to shine as bright 
as a miner's cap in the dirt dark, 
to glimmer as if washed in fish scales. 
Instead, I become a balm and salve 
my daughter, my son, the cold mice
in the garage. Instead, I take the garbage
out at midnight. I move furniture away
from the wall to find what we hide. 
I stand in the center of every room
and ask: am I the only animal here?   
Found In Volume 45, No. 05
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  • Jane Wong
Jane Wong
About the Author

Jane Wong holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is a former U.S. Fulbright Fellow and Kundiman Fellow.  She is the recipient of scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, Squaw Valley, and the Fine Arts Work Center.  Her chapbooks include: Dendrochronology (dancing girl press), Kudzu Does Not Stop (Organic Weapon Arts), and Impossible Map (Fact-Simile). She is the author of OVERPOUR, which is forthcoming in the fall of 2016 (Action Books). Currently, she is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Pacific Lutheran University.

 

She is the winner of the 2016 Stanley Kunitz Memorial Prize for her poem "I Put on My Fur Coat."