But this birth is arduous: we grow faster than our words can say.
––Édouard Glissant, “Sun of Consciousness,” translated by Nathanaël
kiss me until I am the furious WE
kiss, kiss US
but also bite
––Aimé Césaire, Return to My Native Land, translated by John Berger and Anna Bostock
Selected Poems
The Jungle - Poetry Northwest
At the Trenches - Assaracus: A Journal of Gay Poetry
J.A. Dela Cruz-Smith Playing Gay Chatroulette with No Luck - Assaracus: A Journal of Gay Poetry
To Shade In Everything - Assaracus: A Journal of Gay Poetry
From Typhoon / And I’ll Light the Groves - guaiya yan puspus presented by Guma’ Gela’
How Rivers Meet Cliffs - Moss
Love Letter from Capgras Syndrome - Queen Mob’s Tea House
Museums of Temporary Art - Cordite Poetry Review
Pacific American Anxiety Gallery - Cordite Poetry Review
A Soldier Mistook My Muscles for Feathers
A video poem written and directed by Jeric Smith. Movement by Antonius Bui. Dress and Mask by Robinick Fernandez.
A mending of testimony, poetry, dance, and craftwork to explore themes of militarism, queerness, and rebirth.
originally premiered at the 2021 Artists of Color Expo & Symposium
Jeric Smith is a Chamoru-Filipino, queer poet and pastry chef living in Sx’wálech, the traditional homeland of the Northern Straits Coast Salish Peoples. His family is from Dededo and Chalan Pago, Guåhan. His poems have appeared in Assaracus: A Journal of Gay Poetry, Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia (University of Hawai‘i Press), Moss, Poetry Northwest, and Cordite Poetry Review, among other publications. He has performed and read original work at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, the Center on Contemporary Arts, and at various festivals and conferences. His work has been supported by the Anderson Center and Florida State University’s Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography. He received an MFA in Creative Writing from the Rainier Writing Workshop.