Illustration by Christina Tran
live in a city lucky
for light eyed, light haired. fed
instead on hospital
hot lunch, newcomers stuffed
in translation, apartment blocks, their children.
every reserve disappears to return
for the sticky
trap, for stolen toys
out back, hedges and lilacs, superglue
to the noise—chicken stock soundtrack
over murder capital, serve pork with hockey scores.
live in a city infested by them.
pull apart native, mice
tricked adhesive, to keep mother,
keep baby alive.
Janet-Rose Nguyen is an award-winning actress and writer. Her work explores magic, horror, feminism, queerness, and the Asian diaspora. She serves as the co-chair of the ACTRA Diversity & Inclusion committee and ACTRA council. An alumnus of the Reelworld Emerging 20 Program and the Canadian Film Centre’s CBC Actors Conservatory, she also taught screenwriting workshops as the first Writer in Residence for INKSpire. Her films have been featured with the National Screen Institute and Myseum Toronto. She holds degrees in Creative Writing and Screenwriting. You can catch her next in Doomlands (RokuTV).
Christina Tran is a graphic designer and illustrator focused on the art of storytelling through the combination of bold imagery and conceptual thinking. As a Graphic Design for Marketing graduate from the Wilson School of Design, she has received honourable mentions and a scholarship for her student project: Northeast: A Digital Guide to Chinese-Canadian History.