Category: Chinoiserie

Creative prompts for workshops or individuals, inspired by the poetry collection Chinoiserie.

Chinoiserie means “the imitation or evocation of Chinese motifs and techniques in art, furniture, and architecture, especially in the 18th century.”

Friars. Red beauties. Elephant hearts
you could pare on your tongue, limbs darkening below the line.

Robins pulse at their feeders—
Chinese bottle gourds
strung along the black elm.

None. Only burgundy or violet,
scene you never imagine,
fields burning with larvicide.

The desert is a lion-colored seam.

Not a finger of dust lines sills—
not a spine or lizard scale.

Reviews of Karen’s debut book.