Joshua Nguyen
Joshua Nguyen is a queer Vietnamese-American writer, a collegiate national poetry slam champion (CUPSI), and a native Houstonian. He is the author of the chapbook, “American Lục Bát for My Mother” (Bull City Press, 2021) and has received fellowships from Kundiman, Tin House, Sundress Academy For The Arts, and the Vermont Studio Center. He has been published in The Offing, Wildness, American Poetry Review, The Texas Review, Auburn Avenue, Crab Orchard Review, and Gulf Coast Mag. He has also been featured on both the “VS” podcast and Tracy K. Smith’s, “The Slowdown”. He is a bubble tea connoisseur and works in a kitchen. His debut poetry collection, “Come Clean” (Oct 5th 2021, University of Wisconsin Press), was the winner of the 2021 Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry. He is a PhD student at The University of Mississippi, where he also received his MFA.
Poems
Last Words [Extended Cento]
after Mitski
When they come for my things,
there will be a note left on my pillow:
I was going to live
for all my cotton tees, folded all the same—
like did you know the Liberty Bell is a replica?
How it shines its crack
quietly.
I inched away,
silently housed in these original walls
until I became beneath the primer.
They’ll never know how I’d stared at the dark in the room,
but I watched my made-bed every single morning
that I couldn’t have changed.
No matter how smattered my insides,
I am relieved that I left my room tidy—
One less ugly sight.
I always wanted to die clean & pretty
while my dreams made music in the night.
I Ordered A New Pull-up Bar
Because before the gym
closed, I stretched
my lats toward a lattice
ceiling of red plastic
& sweaty clavicles. I carried
the weight of two
brown ankles beneath
my wrists— gym partner
of a greater mythological being.
I am saying that I miss
the sound of two men
praying for the muscles
in our shoulderblades
to shiver & shake.
I am saying that I miss
my own back burning
with the sprinkler busted.
I am saying that I miss
the day after, the sensitive
ache, of work, of recovery.
Chin-ups are a trap
workout. & pull-ups
remind us how to
yearn towards
vestigial wings.
Issue Statement
GMR: What is an issue in your community that you know is of utmost importance?
JN: Anti-Asian Hate, Anti-Asian Violence, Asian-Black Solidarity
GMR: What is the issue at hand?
JN: Since the Coronavirus hit, we have seen a closer spotlight on the discrimination that Asians and Asian-Americans (particularly Asian and Asian-American women) receive. From attacks on the street, harassment in public spaces, and the tragic shooting that occured in Georgia; we need to dismantle the model minority myth and recognize that Asians and Asian-American hate is an issue that needs to be dealt with. Issues on representation in the media shouldn’t be the ONLY issue for Asian-Americans.
At the same time, we have to combat the violence against Asian-Americans without putting down or putting other groups in harm— particularly those in the Black community. Asian-Americans who are hoping for more policing must be aware that calling the police may endanger other groups around them, especially black people who are constantly viewed as a threat by the police. Instead, we must rethink our strategies in keeping our communities safe and look for more holistic actions that bring people together.
GMR: How can GMR readers know more and possibly help?
JN:
- Black Asian Solidarity (essay by Diane C. Fujino): https://www.societyandspace.org/articles/black-asian-solidarity
- Bystander Intervention Trainings: https://www.advancingjustice-chicago.org/what-we-do/bystander-intervention-trainings/?fbclid=IwAR1CD1NAuPOxrMuYT02CQmLyiGfPfN8amcoHp_WcN1jAg3U6YfVvKI6pwkM
- Red Canary Song: https://www.redcanarysong.net/
- CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities: https://caaav.org/