There is no sympathy for a splinter,

so I leave them in me, giving them

a new-found sense of belonging.

Skin heals, enclosing nature into

my essence, adding an invisible spark

of personality each time I bleed.

When I grow older, I’ll wonder

what grows alongside me beneath

the surface; community blossoms.

When I die, I’ll ask for the kiln

to return me to the earth

with all the little trees inside me.

Dylan Tran is a Chinese American poet based in Washington, DC, who strives to uplift the Asian American voice in literature, while walking the fine line between culture and otherness. Dylan’s poems appear or are forthcoming in Ditch Life Magazine, Moonstone Press, The Mid-Atlantic Review, El Portal, Volume Poetry, and elsewhere.  Dylan is a Brooklyn Poets Fellow.