yield
to the man shouting at your mother
yield to your too-eager lover’s desires under covers
yield to the cinema employee’s LOUD & s l o w
mouthedd speaking to a PhD holder’s accent
yield to younger siblings for age is just self-sacrifice
yield to that triple honk truck, the only one trying to get home this 5 pm wednesday
yield like holding a breath indefinitely
yield like just holding it in
yield yellow & waiting
yield like keeping the silence / disappearing your tongue / like only hearing others’
tongues
yield to produce or provide
yield bear fruit or children
yield in fear of a wrong authority
yield safety in the unsaid
yield someone else goes first
yield pick your words
yield give way to: , ,
yield think ahead
yield stop in your tracks
yield go backwards
yield looking beyond
yield conserving space
yield just for you
yield a surrender
yield before battle
yield form of protection
yield kept for another
yield type of pause
yield grin & bear it
yield relenting
yield is silent work
yield never screaming
yield nhường
yield refrain
yield nhịn
yield create a path
yield to be that pathway
yield to allow another the privilege to speak
yield to allow others to have things, to be seen, to be loud, to be a person
yield to turn the other cheek, knowing
yield a deliberate choice
yield wasteful with/holding
Thanh Bui was born in Saigon and raised in Boston and Houston. Her work has appeared in The Sunlight Press, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, FIVE:2:ONE, Cosmonauts Avenue, The Offing, and FreezeRay Poetry. She is teaching herself a lot of things.