Poetry: “Hi Everyone! Welcome To My 8 Step Skincare Routine” by Christy Ku
As New Voices wind down for the year, Christy Ku brings us “Hi Everyone!” which is an exercise in irreverence. We see her repetitive in form, which at first feels like a comic trick, but rises into a fever pitch as the poem starts easy and confessional and then becomes tricky and nuanced, sliding from the innocent image of parents on a pizza date into a desperate and anxious critique on appearance politics and the role of youth and the pressure to conform. Ku’s poem is crafted to bring juxtapositions of advertising and social media together with the fake and hollow feelings that social media give us, the fleeting dopamine boost that we’ve been conditioned to crave, but her poem does much more than that. It brings critique into sharp relief with a dark humor. Reading her work is a much richer exercise than doomscrolling, and this poem has much to give.
Hi Everyone! Welcome To My 8 Step Skincare Routine
what’s your skincare routine?
my parents, who only eat in chinese restaurants on every holiday,
had pizza on their first date
what’s your skincare routine?
once upon a mirror, i realised i was beautiful. no one’s flag can claim it
what’s your skincare routine?
the world shrunk and i wasn’t so alien anymore
what’s your skincare routine?
i came home to this face and have been decorating
what’s your skincare routine?
“for this commercial we’re looking for someone striking with photographic appeal”’
what’s your skincare routine?
commercial pretty advert pretty sell you something pretty
what’s your skincare routine?
can you give that back now and also show me how to use it
what’s your skincare routine?
there is an awkward teenager clutching a raffle ticket
the prize does not come with instructions
Christy Ku
Christy is a London based poet, writer, actor and workshop facilitator. She has worked with organisations including the BBC, Sky Arts, Apples & Snakes and the Barbican on projects such as poetry films, spoken word tracks and theatre shows. Christy is an alumn of the Barbican Young Poets, New Earth Actors Academy, National Youth Theatre, Southbank New Poets Collective and Royal Court Theatre Playwriting Group. She is the founder of BESEA Poets, a platform for British based East and South-East Asian poets. Christy has been published with Macmillan Children's Books, Pan Macmillan, Own It!, Magma Poetry, the Barbican, Potluck Zine, Spoonfed, The Dark Horse Magazine and more. She was once rejected from having a poem baked onto 200 loaves of bread. Christy is currently seeking a publisher for her debut poetry pamphlet.
