Map Home

ACROSS

DOWN

1 he’s everywhere, now that you’ve said no

6 you chased after a man & after a language that don’t belong to you

2 & spelled your mother’s name wrong for most of your life

7 clouded by these big words, keys to the mind & the small words you collect in your palms

3 despite it all, there’s a path that leads to love

4 like, here: your not-dad, who could’ve been & if he had you wouldn’t be so alone

8 like, here: the way your parents’ names, small gifts, show up in the mouths of the living

5 but still you insist on making eye contact with pain—you insist on returning to the memories of your mother’s mother

9 you need to go back & so you do. stay there a while in that room: your immigrant auntie watching from her bed

14 as you replay the rusted stories, age-wrinkled. the movies you were too young to see unspool on the screen

10 the country no one wants creeps into your every sentence

15 you’re bad at goodbyes. each night you set a plate at dinner for the sister who leaves. family by another name. forgive her, when she walks away

11 while you force the gates open, one at a time. a gentle hand, pushing in. you can win her back—your childhood

16 & remember instead where you first learned to ride a bike, her gentle hand pushing you away

12 just smile wide, here’s how to get everyone to stay

17 the wind on your face like the month you first met your love, paperclips linking in your stomach remember—

13 here’s how to get rid of the dust. your home so far away. the fog high around your head. you can write the spell, you can redraw the map, you can fight your way back.