The events of Kingdom Hearts III imply that Remy Rataouille didnt control Linguini because he was compatible with him or anything, but rather Remy has the inherent power to completely control people just by pulling on their hair, meaning that if Thanos wasn’t bald, then Remy would be the most powerful creature in the Disney extended universe, in this essay I
Finished carving, with some minor touch-ups to go. The woman is based on a anneanne from Sinop, who once said to me (paraphrasing) “you come from a womb, I come from a womb, we all come from wombs.”
evening. a low sun. i sit outside and watch the water. a memory of a woman stealing flowers from the neighbour’s garden arrives like the silver body of a fish in a summer river. this woman and i, we haven’t spoken in years. i want to run toward her voice, disappear, appear in the balcony where we once shared a colombo dusk, a sky scented with a prayer from the mosque. she asked me what i wanted to be and i said, a magician among other things. in what language do i tell her i am no magician, i cannot travel toward her voice or rope an evening or make light from her darkness. in this country, i am alone. i go home to no one. i sit in a crowded room and write poems, red and thick, like the flowers my grandmother stole.
“My Grandfather speaks rapid Cantonese to me.
He’s telling me what he wants from McDonalds.
The kid behind the counter rolls his eyes at this.
The woman behind us in line says “Speak English” under her breathe. The grip my Grandfather has on my arm tightens.
My Grandfather can speak English.
He can understand English.
He can write English. But he came when he was in his twenties, and he has an accent
that will never leave.
And when he speaks English he hears-
“How long have you been here?”
“Can you repeat that again?”
“I don’t understand you.” And it humiliates him.
This man who left his family,
who left his life to make a better one.
The bravest man I know
is embarrassed of his accent. And in McDonalds,
the man who crossed the pacific in a freight boat with no papers
and no one he knew in this country,
bows his head in shame.”
