An Ode to Her Cheekbones

the synecdoched curves

lay northeast & west on a plain

of abandonment

adopted at under one

by people who weren’t her people

kind new Dad, as tall and dark as
the Father she would never know-
the ghost who would fight for god & country
but not his own
warm new Mom with hwangyong floating on her lips
in the same tongue as the original Mother 

who opened her legs
but not her heart
to a babe in rags.
her cheekbones tell the Juliet & Romeo tale
tragic death of a young love

genetic convex still sings

a song of a Head Held High
regardless
of what came before
her mocha mountains
look down over the valleys
where, when given a chance,

smiles still bloom.