Alice Chu lives in Chongqing
and she attends classes online
loves hotpots and her friends
never submits work on time
can’t follow essay instructions
but she speaks perfect English
and writes crystalline sentences
a potential poet or a novelist
but her father has other plans
One day Alice logs into class
splotchy bruises on her arms
a heavy cast around her ankle
every part of her looks broken
but Alice Chu is still smiling
her dad shoved down the stairs
for a C plus grade on her essay
Who do you call when the
abused live on other continents?
and what’s there to be done
about never-returned messages?
and how do you tell parents
your child’s not doctor material?
and how do you lift someone
when you can only reach so far?
Alice—this dreamy teenager
not quite ready for university
a poetic giant, ready to awaken
with more guidance and patience
her father demands perfection
but Alice Chu’s already perfect
Brendan Praniewicz
Brendan Praniewicz earned his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State in 2007 and has subsequently taught creative writing at San Diego colleges. He has had poetry published in From Whispers to Roars, Tiny Seed Journal, That Literary Review, and The Dallas Review. In addition, he received second place in a first-chapters competition in the Seven Hills Review Chapter Competition in 2019. He won first place in The Rilla Askew Short Fiction Contest in 2020. He was a Pushcart Nominee for poetry in 2023.
