Interrogation of the Hanged Man
What is your face?
A house, of sorts.
What is your foot?
A chipped stone blade.
What did you dream?
A rain-washed road.
What did it mean?
It meant nothing.
What have you learned?
The sky forgives.
What does it forgive?
Each jet its wake.
What do you want?
A smile, of sorts.
No, what do you want?
I want nothing.
What’s in your hand?
A leafless twig.
No. Show me. What’s that in your hand?
Monica Youn, “Interrogation of the Hanged Man," from Blackacre. Copyright © 2016 by Monica Youn. Used with the permission of Graywolf Press, www.graywolfpress.org.
Monica Youn
Monica Youn grew up in Houston, Texas. She received a BA from Princeton University, a JD from Yale Law School, and an MPhil from the University of Oxford, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.