#Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency

[lifeinpoetry]

How will you / have you prepare(d) for your death?

I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him. I kiss him.

— Chen Chen, "a small book of questions: chapter iii," Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency

[smokefalls]

If we could communicate fully, there would be no need to communicate. If we could love perfectly, there would be no need to love. If we could finish grieving, there would be no need to live. If we could touch completely, there would be no need.

Chen Chen, “a small book of questions: chapter iv” from Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency

[metamorphesque]

— The School of Your Book / Letter to Jennifer S. Cheng Study Abroad, Chen Chen

[leehallfae]

“they pushed their faces toward me. / their poems toward me. / they leapt & thrashed, they were stars, / stars, stars. / i woke up weeping. do you understand? / i thought i could only fall asleep / doing that.”

— chen chen, “spring summer autumn winter,” your emergency contact has experienced an emergency

[weltonboys]

your emergency contact has experienced an emergency, chen chen

[dk-thrive]

i love feelings. can't get enough of creatures who feel & show it, who shimmer a bit from it.

— Chen Chen, from "weep ode #99" in Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency (BOA Editions Ltd., September 13, 2022) (Issue 30, readwildness.com)

[zack-hyden]

Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced An Emergency -Chen Chen

[scully1990]

“a small book of questions: chapter iv” by Chen Chen.

[halogen2]

Ode to Rereading Rimbaud in Lubbock, Texas by Chen Chen from Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced An Emergency (2022)

[tokyocyborg]

[on-poetry]

You soften the fright away with syllable after syllable of your hand. 

Chen Chen, “Summer,” Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency

[lifeinpoetry]

I walk home calmly.

I kiss him.

I kiss him. I forget to tell him about the truck.

Or: I don’t tell him because he’s told me how often he thinks about death, his & mine, & I don’t want to scare him, don’t want him thinking & thinking about what could’ve happened that night, what could happen tonight. How do you tell someone you love them without making them think about one day losing you?

I kiss him. In the moment, I don’t think about why I’m not telling him.

— Chen Chen, from "a small book of questions: chapter i," Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency

[smokefalls]

I think it’s what any artist hopes for: not only to be remembered, but to be company.

Chen Chen, “Summer [The sunflowers fall …]” from Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency

[metamorphesque]

How do you tell someone you love them without making them think about one day losing you? I kiss him.

Chen Chen, a small book of questions: chapter i

[leehallfae]

“i tell him & he holds me. i tell him about the truck, its very large redness. he holds me & says, as he’s said before, we’re both going to live to a hundred & then die peacefully in our sleep at the exact same time. i say, yes, i say, absolutely. i kiss him, yes. at the same time i think, but what about two hundred? three?”

— chen chen, “a small book of questions: chapter iv,” your emergency contact has experienced an emergency

[bookquotesforthesoul]

I miss walking through a museum by myself. That sweet surrounded-by-art/aloneness. Solitude enhanced, perfected - by unwearable pantsuits, hairy/suitcases. I think that's what any artist hopes for: not only to be remembered, but to be company.

Chen Chen, “Summer” from Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency