{"id":716,"date":"2019-04-30T20:59:19","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T00:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/crystallize\/?page_id=716"},"modified":"2020-07-17T12:08:51","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T16:08:51","slug":"alice-luo","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/crystallize\/poetry\/alice-luo\/","title":{"rendered":"Alice Luo"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n
\n
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ode to my freshly-braided cornrows<\/strong><\/p>\n

As my head perches between melaninated legs
\nI am the closet I have ever been to the motherland<\/p>\n

The comb plows into my scalp
\nMarking its territory
\nLike a wild species
\nBut its plastic bites aren\u2019t foreign to me
\nRhythmic penetration of follicles
\nPush pull
\nPull pull
\nPush
\nTo uncoiled eyes
\nThis ritual of tug-of-war
\nScreams barbaric chants of defiance
\nThe unwed cousin of human sacrifice<\/p>\n

You are the transcendent mediator for agony and anguish.
\nPlaiting together loose strands of matrilineages
\nThe fingertips of my mother\u2019s
\nMother\u2019s
\nAuntie
\nHave mastered your holy conundrum
\nIt goes…
\nLeft,\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 right
\nLeft
\nright
\nL-<\/p>\n

My lips have already spilt the last drop of cherry Kool-aide on the kitchen floor
\nYou are the ultimate shapeshifter.
\nTransforming a hand-me down wool sweater into a lustrous headdress
\nYou come in more languages than the sun
\nFrench
\nDutch
\nEven African
\nA language presumed to be lost at sea<\/p>\n

You are an exclusive form of transportation.
\nHarriett\u2019s train is no match for your four-hundred seater subway
\nMaking stops at every kitchen back door
\nThe only rules of the road
\nNever. Touch. The. Conductor.<\/p>\n

They
\nSee you
\nI
\nHear you
\nYour presence echoes within fragmented mirrors
\nYour defiant acts of gravity do not go unnoticed
\nYour need for applause remains at the top of my to-do list
\nI scratch your scalp
\nAnd you un-condition mine
\nYou un-condition minds<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Distinguished Voices Poetry Contest Finalist
\n<\/em>Selected by Chen Chen<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

“Hair becomes a way to explore land, history, race, language, matrilineal hands and ways. Beautifully and urgently written.” – Chen Chen<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Alice<\/span>\u00a0Luo<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0is an English major and Africana Studies minor attending SUNY Cortland. Her love for spoken word and writing has driven her to perform on stages all across New York. Going by her stage name,\u00a0Sista Spice,\u00a0<\/i>Luo<\/span> is anticipating the publication of her first poetry book to be released April 2019.<\/p>\n

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Back<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ode to my freshly-braided cornrows As my head perches between melaninated legs I am the closet I have ever been to the motherland The comb plows into my scalp Marking its territory Like a wild species But its plastic bites aren\u2019t foreign to me Rhythmic penetration of follicles Push pull Pull pull Push To uncoiled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":0,"parent":692,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-716","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/crystallize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/crystallize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/crystallize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/crystallize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/crystallize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/crystallize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/716\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/crystallize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cortland.edu\/crystallize\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}