Séance in Daylight

Poetry. Asian & Asian American Studies. Winner of the 2018 Frost Place Chapbook Competition, selected by Sandra Lim. "SÉANCE IN DAYLIGHT is about desire, transformation, and dreams; it is also about intricate, yet light-footed sessions with the dead. The ever-present undertow of the poet's sharp observations keeps these lush, yet lapidary lyrics from slipping into solipsism or sentimentality. 'Back home, my body thin and healthy / cooling my feet on a crystal ball like a psychic out of business,' says one speaker, returning from an imagined visitation. These poems remind us that at times, life's very existence feels unbearably inexplicable, beautiful, perverse, moody, and touching. Yuki Tanaka connects these feelings with a spiritual intensity and a sweet wit. His images startle, 'A bare white arm / disinfected. Plump, sizzling,' and they pierce into our inwardness, 'This pile of wood wished to be a stairway / but couldn't. Will you pretend to climb it.'"--Sandra Lim