“’Round Here” by Sherry Luo

In perpetual dusk and curls,
           skeeters are a thing
      ’round here, but they
won’ bother you if
you dress in the colors of
the sun or the patterns of
Granma’s curtains and are
a ma’am or missus or, better
            yet, a miss
                        because they will
mistake your pale smoothness
for porcelain from
which orchid women
with chiffon breaths sip
lavender tea and partake of
ambrosia underneath the
porch roof in white wicker
furniture behind white
columns under the impression
they are Greek goddesses
                    of poise
                         hospitality
                             & husband-hunting

Careful now, those deviled
eggs might be dusted
with rust, not paprika 

The cure to every
ailment ’round here:
            listen to your momma
go to church
find yourself a nice man who
can listen and sweat
and have a daughter who
can type and smile
real wide

Sherry Luo is the Editor-in-Chief of Stillpoint. She is a fourth-year from Johns Creek, GA studying Genetics and English. The recipient of the 2016 Georgia Poet Laureate Prize, she is the author of a chapbook, Imperative of the Night (The Lune, 2017). Her work appears in Atlanta Magazine, Figroot Press, The Madras Mag, FishFood Magazine, and The Shanghai Literary Review.