In My Afterlife, I Am Brightest
Phuong T. Vuong | Poetry
after “Untitled (Chauffeur Funeral),” by Daisy Patton
Golden cellophane bows on wreaths, floral
vines transgress the casket’s ivory
satin lining. The floor, a jade-colored rug,
covered in bouquets. Purple palms
form a triangle framing the dead. After life,
there is this: proximity of black
lace, a sheer lavender curtain’s ruffle. My spirit
rising as rambling branches in this funeral
parlor. I trespass
the composition. I am
beyond. It’s true what they say—
enrapt, I watch you from here. Against the margin,
a climbing rose wraps tighter, determined,
invasive, celebrated. See
how in death, I infiltrate.
Phuong T. Vuong has been awarded fellowships from Tin House, VONA/Voices, and Kearny Street Workshop’s Interdisciplinary Writers Lab. She has publications in American Poetry Review, Best American Poetry, Prairie Schooner, The Asian American Writers’ Workshop: The Margins, and elsewhere. Her debut poetry collection The House I Inherit was released by Finishing Line Press in 2019. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Literature at the University of California, San Diego where she researches Asian American feminism and communes with the Pacific.
Climbing Rose by Venyamin Koretskiy