Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 2021
We open the screenless window and bat our arms
to clear the buffet of lake gnats, flies, and knots
of insect carcasses beaded on the spiderweb
that has been growing for over a year.
There is a small, grayed husk in the right corner
of the window, and we think just maybe
that is the beginning of a wasp’s nest, and with
consideration, we bat that off the window too.
We can’t find the duct tape to seal off the cracks
and because there were no presents to wrap this year
I get the best Scotch tape, and there it is! The wasp
hovering where we destroyed its starter home.
The bird that started a nest in the other window returns,
the lake spiders lining the fake French doors drop down,
remind us to never open them for a breeze because they love
to wave their thick pincers hello! I am hungry, but we must
finish screwing the AC unit in place, just the one screw
because the rest are lost, and hope that the wind won’t knock it off.
Our arms are shaking, weak from being inside, moving
the fridge out, lugging last year’s storage from behind
our favorite appliance, hoisting the giant box of cool air
above our heads to squeeze out the kitchen, and there is dirt
everywhere, but at least we love each other
enough to know the roar of the air conditioner
lets us hold each other again.
Su Cho is a poet, essayist, and the author of The Symmetry of Fish (Penguin Books 2022) which won the 2021 National Poetry Series. Her work has been featured in Poetry, Gulf Coast, and New England Review; the 2021 Best American and Best New Poets anthologies; and elsewhere. She has served as the editor-in-chief of Indiana Review and Cream City Review, and served as guest editor for Poetry magazine. A finalist for the 2020 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Poetry Fellowship, a recipient of a National Society of Arts and Letters Award, and a two-time Pushcart nominee, she is an assistant professor of creative writing at Clemson University.
From THE SYMMETRY OF FISH by Su Cho, published by Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2022 by Su Cho.
Su Cho’s latest book is THE SYMMETRY OF FISH (Penguin Books 2022) which won the 2021 National Poetry Series. Visit with her and her work at the Miami Book Fair 2022. Cover art by: Michelle Manley, Pushing Plastic 1. Cover designed by: Lynn Buckley.
Welcome to SWWIM Every Day’s preview coverage of Miami Book Fair (MBF) 2021! The poets whose work you’ll be reading every weekday from October 25 through November 12 are just a few of the many authors from around the world participating in this year’s MBF, the nation’s largest gathering of writers and readers of all ages. They all look forward to sharing their work, thoughts, and ideas both in person and online. Between November 14 and November 21, new poet conversations and readings will be launched and available for free on miamibookfaironline.com (in addition to other content). For more information, visit the website and follow MBF on Instagram and Twitter at @miamibookfair and use the hashtag #miamibookfair2021.