Maw Shein Win
Grapefruit
One year I ate a grapefruit every day.
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My husband is allergic to grapefruit.
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Since my surgery, I examine three scars on my abdomen, one above my navel, two longer incisions to the right and left. Wingspan of a sparrow.
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My ovarian cyst was the size of a grapefruit. In 1964, Grapefruit, A Book of Instruction and Drawings by Yoko Ono, was originally published in a limited edition of 500 by Wunternaum Press in Tokyo.
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Lying on the surgical table, heated blanket across my body, I remember my surgeon holding The Complete Dramatic Works of Samuel Beckett, which I found both comforting and alarming. In the post-op, I notice he has shaved his three-inch beard.
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I wonder why tumors are compared to the size of food items. On a medical website, I read: Common food items that can be used to show tumor size in centimeters include: a pea (1 cm), a peanut (2 cm), a grape (3 cm), a walnut (4 cm), a lime (5 cm), an egg (6 cm), a peach
(7 cm), and a grapefruit (10 cm).
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In junior high, my friend Jack said, as if it were fact, If it weren’t for Yoko, the Beatles would still be together. I felt insulted: being Asian American, female, a Beatles devotee. A few years later, a diehard Yoko fan. Yet, I remained silent.
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CUT PIECE from Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit
Cut.
This piece was performed in Kyoto, Tokyo, New York and London. It is usually performed by Yoko Ono coming on the stage and in a sitting position, placing a pair of scissors in front of her and asking the audience to come up on the stage, one by one, and cut a portion of her clothing (anywhere they like) and take it. The performer, however, does not have to be a woman.
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This morning I check my wingspan in the mirror. Layers of healing, a disappeared bruise.
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My friend gave me a grapefruit.
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I sliced it.
Maw Shein Win's most recent poetry book is Storage Unit for the Spirit House (Omnidawn), nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry, longlisted for the PEN America Open Book Award, and shortlisted for CALIBA's Golden Poppy Award for Poetry. Win's previous collections include Invisible Gifts and chapbooks Ruins of a glittering palace and Score and Bone. She is the inaugural poet laureate of El Cerrito and often collaborates with visual artists, musicians, and other writers. • Photo by Thomas Scandura