China, Maine
it was in 1797 when the Chinese sailors arrived
the land was still part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
a smattering of farmers and fishermen and trappers
who’d seldom seen a black man or an Indian
let alone these men from who knew where
the sailors didn’t speak English and of course
none of the folks in what would one day be Maine
could speak even a single word of Mandarin or Cantonese
but they used their hands and faces and both sides
little by little, made themselves understood
the Chinese sailors had wanted to circle the world
but they’d thought it was a lot smaller than it turned out to be
they hit some bad weather off Nova Scotia
next thing they knew it was lobster pots on a rocky coast
over time they fit right in — sea people are sea people
and lobster tastes pretty good with hoisin sauce
by 1820, when Maine became a state on its own
there was one town in it with more rice dishes than normal
where everyone knew how to eat with chopsticks
14 May 2013
Auburn AL
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