About Blueprints:

“BLUEPRINTS” is the debut poetry collection by Taiwanese-American author Jeanelle Fu. Cover art by Dianuh Aerin Gundersen. In this narrative she finds language for her homeland, the songs of our parents. It is a recollection of grief, and how a people emerge from mourning one day, one breath at a time. As much as these poems honor the author’s heritage, they are also an invitation into crossing bridges: to celebrate and fight for the tribes adjacent, surrounding us all along. Through endless cups of shay in the Middle East, conversations in suhoor, the dancing on secluded rooftops: Grief is a storm we weather together. In these unprecedented times, we must hold one another’s hands as we wade across rivers of injustice and violence.

Excerpts:

家

what is home?
and why do we find remnants of it
in the strangest places

home is
a warm bowl of soymilk in Yonghe
mourning doves fluttering beside
a rusty air vent
it is the Azan before dawn
the brush of garlic petals against skin

we find traces
in subtle shades and textures
in shoulders we rest our heads on
in the tenacity of eyes that know us

home is a place you can always return to

“BLUEPRINTS”

Grandfather was a pilot in the war
He left China with two million other refugees
My father captured tadpoles in Kaohsiung
he dreamed of becoming an architect

He would stay up nights in the community room
constructing worlds with his colleagues
designing new spaces and doors
He traded his blueprints to sell flowers

for mom and I
extending his roots beneath the American sun
at weekly swap meets
learning a new language

I am a child of exodus
held intricately by bonds of sacrifice
I am the daughter of an architect
who laid out a blueprint of my life, with sweat and tears

“HOLY WEEK”

Palm Sunday bombs tore through
two Coptic churches
We drifted like phantoms
I can still see the dust swimming

Bombs detonate, breaking skin
hollowing bodies
Encased in metal shells and
fervent ideology

Unable to sever bonds
forged through daily sacrifice
Courage to open shops and put
aish on the table for sons and daughters

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