Selected Literary Journals & Anthologies
"Seeking Sakuchi," White Enso, Spring/Summer 2023
When I left for Japan in 2003, my mother handed me a 3x5 card with the names of my long-dead grandparents written out in English and kanji— Sakuichi Tsutsumi and Umematsu Yokote—and the names of their villages written in romaji English—Itakusu and Kita-Itakusu, Kumamoto, Japan. I read the words out loud, rolling the syllables over my tongue. Such slender threads to my family’s past in Japan.... MORE
"Strawberry Mud," Memoir Magazine, 2023
My Auntie Stella’s strawberry chiffon pie was an airy, creamy confection of crushed berries, whipped cream and meringue lightly held together with gelatin and complemented by a crisp Crisco crust. This dessert was so delectable, it could almost make you forget how hard it was to grow those berries.
I would know. I earned my first dollar at age six picking strawberries on my knees with my grandparents.
“The Beggar Woman’s Baby,” Eleven Eleven, Winter 2017
For a few glorious weeks during the rainy season, when water actually ran in the wide, sandy river course outside the ashram, my fellow American hippies and I could wash our clothes in the traditional way. As we threaded through the thorn bushes to the river, I felt wonderfully liberated from the hot and crowded confines of the compound.... MORE
“The Elephant Hair,” AWAY Journal, Winter 2017
“Today, I have something special. Only for you!” whispered Vijay, the young waiter at the Sai Anand, darting his eyes around the tiny restaurant to ensure that no one else had heard him. A knot of Indians chatted in the far corner, oblivious to us. Nonetheless, Vijay lifted his eyebrows to signal that he needed absolute privacy. MORE
“Of Christmas and Karma,” Persimmon Tree, Winter 2016
In the winter of 1954, when I was eight, I found out that Christmas meant a lot more than the spindly little tree on top of our TV set. Mrs. Gill, Mom’s friend from work, invited us for Christmas Eve. Mom and I put on our best outfits, made from Woolworth’s remnants, and drove from our working-class neighborhood to a nicer part of Baltimore. MORE
“Too Bad,” memoir, Mother of All Stories, Asian Women United, 2016
Mom hid inside her immaculate house because she was hazukashii, terrified of embarrassment and humiliation. She limited her world to her house, her secretarial job, and her family–my dad, who was seldom present even when he was home, and me, her only child. MORE
“A Well-Made Life," InvAsian: Growing Up Asian in America, Asian Women United, 2003
Not long after we found Jiichan, Grandpa, on the roof, he decided he was ready for a rest home. He was ninety, after all, and had a bad hip, and fading eyesight. Lately his heart had been acting up. Twice, Uncle Tak had to drive out in the middle of the night to take him to the hospital. MORE
POETRY
"When words don’t come," Lake County Bloom, April 2023
"the dark and light of it" and "Badger Woman, or Speaking in Tongues," Lake County Bloom, Mar 2023
“raw does not bleed,” Whirlwind Magazine, No. 6
“One Woman’s Hell… A Gentrifier’s Lament,” poem, Poor Magazine
“Souvenirs of New Orleans,” Whirlwind Magazine, No. 5
“The Sansei Perspective,” Discover Nikkei
“survivor,” Stone's Throw Magazine, No. 3
Selected Publications