Beijing and I Meet for the First Time
By Meg Eden
When I first met Beijing, she said,
What're you doing here?
It's not the Olympics yet.
I tried to tell her I was here
to see her country, to get away
from my home, but she tried
to sell me bootleg plushes
of pandas, and I caved in.
When I first met Beijing,
the street was cold
and there was a boy
who had a hole in his pants
where his penis stuck out,
purple and small.
I asked her about that boy
but she said, I hear
our mall is the largest in the world—
She gave me a five star hotel room
with a waterfall in the lobby.
Every time I passed through
that lobby, I thought about the boy.
When I first met Beijing,
all she wanted to do
was practice her English.
I told her I was interested
in writing poems, but
she didn't know
what that was.
I said I wanted to hear
all about her—what she believes
in, where she goes for daily
fun, the names of her friends
and what they hope to become—
but she said there are some things
that shouldn't be talked about.
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