Grace H. Zhou is a poet and cultural anthropologist with a PhD from Stanford University. A President’s Postdoctoral Scholar at the Ohio State University, she was born in Sichuan, China, and lives in Galway, Ireland.

Home Is a Verb of Motion

by Grace H. Zhou

On a bald knoll, circled by on-ramps and overpasses,
weathering and weighted is a concrete behemoth
for the gods of want. Hilltop Mall is one name for it.
We know it as the place where starlings flock in spring
at 4:30 every afternoon, from every direction
billowing through the sky like ink in water,
making mockery of our little man-made desires.

People on couch
To continue reading please sign in.
Join for free
Already a reader? Sign In