Ginseng

Ethan Yu

The raggedy pigeons in San Francisco have the most
fucked-up feet, and the old Chinese people smoking
cigarettes play cho dai di on cardboard boxes in the park
we always pass, my family exits the underground elevator
in the parking lot beneath Portsmouth Square, we pass a
replica of a statue taken down during Tiananmen Square,
a Chinese lady encased in bronze bears the inscription:
“Dedicated to Those Who Strive For Democracy,” and
is called The Goddess of Democracy, and stands in what is
now called the Heart of Chinatown, where we drive to for
over an hour and a half, all the way from Sacramento,
because my Pah Pah, my mother’s mother, once knew an
herbalist, that is still alive and well, that sold the best
Ginseng in town that could be found.

Born in Sacramento, California, Ethan Yu currently lives back at home, sipping ginseng tea with his parents. He can be found on Twitter @ereignisyu.

BACK TO ISSUE ONE