惊鸿一瞥 (A Glimpse of a Startled Swan Goose)
words by Daisy Wong, art by Sneha Lakamsani
A steaming hot cup of noodles;
she sits, wrapped in a quilt of captious chaos—
foggy, yet aggressive.
Soft amber descends to the corner of her eyes,
making visible no person or screen, no past nor future, but
A steaming hot cup of noodles.
Hong Kong-flavored powder, add a slick line of soy sauce, top with kimchi and tuna;
water trickling, remnants of an overheated adolescence—
foggy, yet aggressive.
She eats, chopsticking one bite after another, burning the tip of her tongue,
demanding inordinate desperation and pain-tolerance.
A steaming hot cup of noodles.
Pieces of concaved glass, blurry steam; mottled shades of ascent, beauty-defining feathers;
resisting shatter, tracing feminine clarity and dignity—
foggy, yet aggressive.
She, embracing the masochistic nature in her,
maintained with blood as hot and blatantly red as the dash of chili garlic on top.
A steaming hot cup of noodles;
foggy, yet aggressive.
*惊鸿一瞥 (jīng hóng yī piē) is a four-character Chinese idiom that likens a fleeting moment of beauty to a startled swan taking flight. The phrase originates from Cao Zhi’s Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River, where a woman’s graceful figure is parallel to a sudden flutter of a swan goose— swift, elegant, and unforgettable. Over time, its etymology has faded from common memory, yet the general metaphor continues to be used. Today, the phrase evokes the feeling of catching a glimpse of a person, a scene, or an emotion so brief it passes in an instant, yet so luminous it remains in one’s heart.
