a brown sister told me someone told her       white people smell like milk                 so I took a good long whiff of one      brought him home with melet him sleep in my bed      he kept me safe      kept me from lonely                 so I kept him from spoiling      from curdling      kept himat night he dripped milk into me      my fingers gripping       his bony limbs                 my brown awash in milk      rinsed & cooled      I slurped it upmaybe he loved me      but only as white boys       love guavas                 from a warm country      pink-soft insides      fragrant othermaybe I loved him but only      as a brown girl      loves a white thing                 a so-called pure thing      makintab      a shiny lie      one dayI met his onion-skin mother      his candle-stump father      we talked                 about Asia      you know      that giant country       onion-mother saidmy English was great      no accent!       candle-father said      I looked exotic                 are you—Polynesian?      they may as well have asked what it’s liketo wake up smelling like dung      like tarantulas      burnt rice                 or flies in summer heat      smelling      like monsoon mildew      mudstink bugs circling      instead they asked      if I’d tried dog      asked                 if I’ve ever once burned rice      because I must be so good at itI don’t need a recipe      they all laughed       so later that night                 I took my white boy to my lola’s house      pulled down a jarof black vinegar      sukang itim      dipped my tongue in it      kissed him                 you shoulda seen his pale face go see-through      chalk dissolvingreverse alchemy      now when talk of white people      I tell my brown sister                 baho      they stink of milk      so I let mine goshe still shakes her head at me      says bobo      why are you so stupid                 says I was lucky      to be so close to one      who smells of milkbut when milk turns sour      ferments      blooms fetid under the nose                 the only thing to do is pour it      down the drain