Remembering Poetry Competition Winner

Safety First

Ping Yi Yee

Patent No. US3071856A protects the Safety Razor, property of one Irwin W. Fischbein of 18 Joyce Road, Hyde Park, Massachusetts. Super+Platinum, whispers stainless steel blade atop the dresser, grandpa snoring after lively grandkids, hundred miles fifty here by diesel spluttering bus. Vintage fan creaks with languor, cajoling humid air out casement windows. Vintage razors under different patents are dismantled for cleaning thus: open top whatsit, remove blade, unscrew corrugated handle. Deconstructed, the razor is not safe, and bites into forefinger and thumb as I merrily slice grandpa’s Chinese newspaper into wondrous angel hair. Before fingertips unpeel, before crimson scandal makes it to print. The room reaches white heat; there’s no fan, wind, crying. Dad grandma someone grabs me, and poor grandpa gets it good. I remember nothing of my pain bandages eating showers homework school healing

that world is walled away, safe from me.

About the poet

Ping Yi writes poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction. After a three-decade detour in public service, he resumed his lifelong interest in speculative, humour and travel writing. His work has appeared in Orbis, Litro, The Stony Thursday Book, London Grip, Meniscus, and La Piccioletta Barca, among others.

Our winner

‘Safety First’ by Ping Yi Yee is the winner of Free the Verse’s Remembering Competition. In this poem, memory becomes both subject and structure. It begins with the hard fact of a patent number before unfolding into vivid images and narrative. We step inside memory itself, moving through what is remembered and brushing against the hazy edges of what is withheld. The poem reminds us that remembering is not only about what we can recall, but also about the absences that keep us safe: that protect us from the past.

Honourable mentions
Sarah Das Gupta
Philip Lisi
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