‘嫦娥 Explains Her Origin Story’
— Joyce Chong
Instead, I am telling a creation myth
in reverse. The boy-god sinks
into his mother
This week I have a poem by Jasmine Cui and Stephanie Cui on mythology, the moon, and Chang’o. Turning a classical myth on end, revealing the ways that time and history can warp a story and change its meaning. The context excised, Chang’o becomes a victim, the punishment external and enacted upon her. The conflict of choosing your own fate and resolving yourself to one defined fate, to abandoning someone you love. Sacrifice or selfishness, there is a nuance to her mythology that has been gradually stripped away over time.
Asks her bones
to unspool into atoms into light.
And exiles whatever is left.