Isabella Hsu
The King of Los Angeles County
He grows tomato vines in gallon jugs.
In plastic tubs, potatoes sprout out through
their million eyes. He's even planted stalks
of corn in plaintive rows in his backyard
between the carport and garage. His wife's
dismayed by all this growth—by all this green,
a better sight in someone else’s yard.
Even the house meanders year by year;
additions born in quiet winters burst
through summer's lengthened days—a shanty town
behind their sunbleached fence. She cannot grudge
his potent hands or his resourcefulness.
O Makeshift Midas, O Suburban King,
beneath your gnarled thumb grows everything.
Isabella Hsu
is a current MFA candidate at the University of St. Thomas, Houston. Her poems, reviews, and essays have been featured in
The St. Austin Review and
The San Diego Reader. She is assistant executive editor of
Dappled Things.