Year of the Fire Rooster by Deborah Wong

Narrated by John C. Mannone

I feel trapped like ginseng in a venti jar,
Chinese dates losing its battle to circulate
the warring blood of my ancestors. Mother fails
to re-construct facial collagen with bird nests.
Cordyceps are searching for new host to procreate.

You can never be good enough for the Fire Rooster.

I dream of swimming with lacquered puppets—
South China Sea to Pacific Ocean—eating oranges
making sure to spit out its seeds to avoid spawning
banana-speaking babies in the womb. I know a man
mocking Chinese calligraphy, ashamed
to admit his roots, and choosing not to learn;

believing auspiciousness is number eight.
Nine is longevity; two—a pair of chopsticks,
its accuracy to hold. Peanuts’ll never forget their skin.
Twelve zodiacs competing for their leadership,
a champion rat tricks the bull by sitting on its horn,
a feline is crowned at the right throne of the Pharaoh

as I eventually embrace the Fire Rooster inside me.

BIO: Deborah Wong was born in Kuala Lumpur, and raised in Subang Jaya, Malaysia. She has poems and stories published and forthcoming in Crack The Spine, East Jasmine Review, Streetcake Magazine, The Stray Branch, Eksentrika, Thought Catalog, Ricepaper Magazine, Rat’s Ass Review, Seagery Zine, Strange Horizons and elsewhere. Currently revising her slush drafts and working on a fictionalised memoir, she also has an artwork-poetry crossover project with an Australian emerging artist on Instagram at @bymarissam. Twitter: @PetiteDeborah. Instagram: @deborahbie.

Issue 52 is the ultimate issue of Liquid Imagination. John Arthur Miller (we called him Jam back then) had a dream, and made it a reality. He dreamed of Sophia, his muse, and how she would help him create a fusion of art and stories and poems and music. Sophia was on the cover of Issue 1, published online in the fall of 2008, and in memory of those days, she is on the cover of this last issue. For fourteen years she has kept Liquid Imagination in her heart, but now it is time for her to rest.

It’s been an unbelievable journey for me, and I have made so many friends. Of course, number one is Jam. And Karl Rademacher who helped me build my first website and made Silver Pen come alive. Kevin Wallis was Liquid Imagination’s first Senior Fiction Editor and what a great job he did! His selected stories embodied the vision of Liquid Imagination. John C. Mannone, our Senior Poetry Editor, has been a powerhouse, selecting poetry that is both beautiful to read, as well as thought provoking.

Brandon Rucker composed music for the site and was a poetry editor, and Bob Eccles was the voice of Liquid Imagination for many issues. Past poetry editors also included Sherri Ellerman and Chrissy Davis.

We had a series of highly talented fiction guest editors between 2014 to 2019, including AJ Brown, Samuel Barnhart, Perry McDaid, Maureen Bowden, Edwin Riddell, Gary Fields, and Shah Khan. Edwin Riddell moved on to be Senior Editor from 2019 until this very last issue.

And I cannot forget the hundreds of authors and poets and photographers and artists whose work we were honored to publish. I hope you will browse through the old issues and enjoy experiencing once again the wonderful variety of stories and poems published over the years.

For fourteen years we’ve read thousands of submissions, struggling to select the best ones to publish from all the great ones submitted. I sincerely thank all who made Liquid Imagination such a success, and a great joy for me. I’m very proud of the magazine and of all of the people who contributed in so many ways. I wish every one of you the best that life has to offer.

Signing off with a full heart
Sue Babcock
Publisher, Liquid Imagination