A Summary of Basically Nothing

afternoon naps really hit different // I can barely follow the path of the cloud // people should not bike down on this hill // don’t give the hospital more stress // my glasses are dirty again ugh // this chicken won’t shut up // city metal glistens like the salty sea

so alive

everything is too alive

/// /// “hey hey did I ever tell you”

“when we were in quarantine and staying at the hotels // and we were right next to the Ala Wai the staff brought us apples and oranges and we were seeing how far we would throw them [into the Ala Wai]”//

look here bitch have you ever cut your own apples and oranges // have you ever been asked where you come from // have you ever had uncle auntie grandma grandpa put in prison instead of therapy // have you ever been denied entry // let us see for how you like when we deny yours // no one like hear about your settler colonialist and littering skills // obviously you only know how for get people cut your apples and oranges // bumbye we goin kick your tanned ass I give you stink eye my home is not your vacation get the fuck out of the damn bus I no care if you think I crazy you make too much eye contact I write you and make you sorry pwahahahaaaaa

this is the only power I have against this stupid pandemic’s corrosion //

游客真係冇礼貌

14 bus driver so nice today // is it going to be the mild grandpa on duty this afternoon

older couple middle couple young couple // will that ever be me // or is me going to hole up in a studio with six cats // why is all just men and women can I get a potato please //

Japan and Imperialism by James L. Huffman book lying open face on the ground // pages like squashed skin and crinkled knowledge as blood lost //

I used to watch a lot of anime //

//the lie in (almost) april is that Japan didn’t get the chance to plant sakura here //

//the lie is that high school was

/// /// bus comes by // Kaimuki High School says welcome

it is so foreign it might as well have said

//willkommen//

we have been made so foreign no one knows it should say

// ka imu kī and e komo mai //

my school ain’t got no sign // we got a

+++ |gate| +++

instead

// to keep us inside and pretentious //

let’s not forget the building names are names of kingdom thieves

// it’s like they didn’t really want us going into the world //

/// /// black is the color today // cars cars cars // car makes a right turn out of the school // man on bike with green mask // 13 Liliha rolls by on the other side // neon construction grandpa with daughter goes to Sekiya // gray cat with construction green eyes with blue collar // artificial strawberry helmet //

where is my bus ugh // ugh a bug go away ugh //

there are so many things in my way //

Ori C. Li is an undergraduate in MA with interests in writing, drawing and aimlessly wandering around town. She has been featured on It's Lit with PhDJ.