Winter A. Chen is a transgender Singaporean Chinese poet, performer, and artist based in London. She loves learning K-Pop choreography and playing an unhealthy amount of League of Legends. Her words can be found at whispersinwinter.wordpress.com

the crystal poem: a zuihitsu

winter chen

the Crystal Ball
Nicki Minaj pulls up
bringing the boom bap
kicks off with karate chop
sticks snare & slap

~

a language of broken wrists & magazine covers / speaks through me as i / strut
& cut beats / into powder & blush / what is tabula rasa but the way we burn
the runway / with thigh-high boots & stilettos scribing / a calligraphy of loops
blurring into infinity / into smoke & spotlight / as in we buck & bend
reality / as in we ooze sex / like a siren / on an ambulance / until no gender / no
bloodstain / glistening on grand prize trophies / fishtail gowns / & champagne bodies

~

Paris is burning. New York is burning. Saigon is burning.
Kyiv is burning. Cape Town is burning. Singapore is burning.
We’ll burn the whole world if we have to.

~

Gucci. Comme des Garçons. Saint Laurent. Revlon.

Balenciaga. Lanvin. Miyake-Mugler.

We, ateliers of a lost generation. We, painted bodies in galleries of disco, busts dripping in diamanté. We, duct tape designers / glue gun engineers / aerosol architects. We, artifice & artifact. We, the bizarre & the bazaar. We, the 0th season. We are everywhere, anywhere & therefore nowhere. We welcome you.

~

Danielle Revlon. Kerri Mizrahi. Mercedes Prodigy. Gisele Xtravaganza. Meeka Prodigy. Stasha Garçon. Sinia Ebony. Lola Ebony. Barbie Mizrahi. Kassandra Ebony. Daesja Laperla. Alyssa Ebony. Jazell Barbie Royale. Ayanna Khan. Alloura Jourdan-Zion. Yolanda Jourdan. Asia West. Kimiyah Ebony. Tyra Allure Ross. Leiomy Maldonado. Tutu West. Tamiyah Gorgeous Gucci. From the star of my crown to the tip of my ponytail, I dip to all the queens before me.

~

one

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now hold that pose for me