TOO TOO TOO TOO by Tammy Ho Lai-Ming
I told no one, but no one wants to know, anyway.
You and I are about to part, and my feelings
are twice removed from an imitation of love.
You are too too too too. Everything’s hyperbolic
when said by you. You, whose tiny scab
on the back of your head intrigues instead of disgusts;
you, whose pretentiousness causes giggles, blushes;
and day in day out you wear your glasses, or not,
like a fourth-rate intellectual, but one nonetheless.
You said so many things that you’ve now forgot. Thus,
you’re definitely not that character in Borges, nor in fact,
any narrative that can be consummately summarised.
Just because you’ve read, and understood, so well,
all these big novels, doesn’t mean that you’re smart,
or necessarily admirable. You’re too easily impressed.
Still, you’ve read this big book—me—and although you're
not the best reader, you’re one of the most appreciated.
And I remember your long eyelashes. And much more--
which can't be abbreviated.
:::::
You and I are about to part, and my feelings
are twice removed from an imitation of love.
You are too too too too. Everything’s hyperbolic
when said by you. You, whose tiny scab
on the back of your head intrigues instead of disgusts;
you, whose pretentiousness causes giggles, blushes;
and day in day out you wear your glasses, or not,
like a fourth-rate intellectual, but one nonetheless.
You said so many things that you’ve now forgot. Thus,
you’re definitely not that character in Borges, nor in fact,
any narrative that can be consummately summarised.
Just because you’ve read, and understood, so well,
all these big novels, doesn’t mean that you’re smart,
or necessarily admirable. You’re too easily impressed.
Still, you’ve read this big book—me—and although you're
not the best reader, you’re one of the most appreciated.
And I remember your long eyelashes. And much more--
which can't be abbreviated.
:::::
Tammy Ho Lai-Ming is the Founding Co-editor of Cha: An Asian Literary Journal and an Assistant Professor at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her first collection of poetry is (Chameleon Press, 2015).
