top of page

POETRY
Exploding Kittens
Rebecca Pinwei Tseng

00:00 / 01:07

In one reality, somebody wrote a computer program that solved my pussy. 
Turns out she had an ON/OFF button this whole time. It was a shock
to the nation. She just needed a little re-programming, the engineer 
who happened to be a man explained. Everyone chuckled 
and sent the article to their wives and mothers as they found 
a shy and endearing quality to her innocence and desire for bliss. 
Turns out technology was the answer to everything, her obstinacy 
the root of her own problems. So when the button turned on,
she was ON and when the button turned OFF, she hid away, 
dozing to dreams of cotton candy and overripe plums.
I saw this predicament so I reached through the screen 
and said, here, come here, and a dark pink paw oozed out 
like the long flat tongue of a whale. I placed my fingers over her eyes
and held her each night as she slept. When she finally spoke, I asked
if she had any regrets. She said, that’s just one pussy’s decision
in one reality, and here, let me pour you a cup of tea and why don’t you
tell me about yourself?
After that, we hosted many dinner parties 
and game nights. Invitation only. We lived a wonderful life.

Rebecca Pinwei Tseng (she/hers) is a writer from Taiwan.  Her work can be found or is forthcoming in The Academy of American Poets, Chrysanthemum Taiwanese Poets Anthology, Asian American Writers’ Workshop (The Margins), Honey Literary, and elsewhere. A graduate of the MFA program at Columbia University, Rebecca lives with her two pet bunnies, who are very much in love.
 
The last line of "Astro Karma Superlicious" is thinking of the first line from "On Rachmaninoff’s Birthday" by Frank O'Hara.

bottom of page