Breath for Metal Ching-In Chen This a story I’ve kept in soft orange inside my steel body. I’ve wanted to wait until I’ve cooled to hum, until my touch wouldn’t burn. I’ve practiced to gentle               not to be odd.   To remember me a calm line transmitting        not artificial sugar smile melts a rainy spring I do not want to feel a tug       you wait again for what’s              dissolved into scent for this week. Copyright © 2023 by Ching-In Chen. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on September 5, 2023, by the Academy of American Poets.