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opening with gratitude, a 4-year update.

thank you to community for support, inspiration, sharing, light. here, a few of the folks who have lifted and lift me up & the work up, with so many more on the way.

To suheir hammad, teacher twice over and ongoing, mentor, community everything, friend who, in a single off-hand almost unspoken remark, set the possibility of carving ashes.

To Chris Abani, teacher, mentor, fam whose support so crucial to the build, the craft, the path.

To Elmaz Abinader, co-founder of VONA/Voices, amazing poet and mentor, for being the second heart of so many writers of colour.

To Wayde Compton, mentor since then, who helped me see place, to retro-imagine, the piece by piece, the shapening.

To Joanne Arnott, a serious community & poetry force ’round here (which, when I wrote this, was Vancouver, Coast Salish Territory—word to Richmond & Surrey), for featuring my work.

To Ross Laird, mentor in the work work, reader who saw the four thematics, the undercurrent.

To sistar Cynthia Dewi Oka, brothers David Maduli & Sevé Torres, auntie Miriam Ching Yoon Louie. Cinder blocks of my ongoing build. Naomi Horii. Jas Gill. All fam, know who you are.

To Rina Alluri, sister by blood: nuff said.

Community. No One Is Illegal. RAIN Zine/Purple Thistle Centre [word to Carla Bergman]. PWC: UKPC/FCYA. The Colouring Book Project. VONA/Voices. NFB [word to Yves Ma]. SafeTeen. Asian Arts Freedom School. Las Dos Brujas [word to Cristina García]. Ashok Mathur & CiCAC Press for publishing carving ashes.