Things I Miss About My Ex-Girlfriends
How I Cheat With The Diabetes Gene
Text of “How I Cheat With The Diabetes Gene”
Eat protein + fiber with sugar
to lower the glycemic impact.
Pistachio coconut milk
ice cream is my best treat.
I line my belly with protein
from turkey deli meat before
I indulge in summer gems
of stone fruit. I aim to cheat
the fate of my father’s
diabetes genes. I’ll
take only his funny bone and nothing
else. Science, please free me.
Jen Cheng (she/ella/kir) is the fifth West Hollywood City Poet Laureate (2023-2026) and author of Braided Spaces. She is a Poet Laureate Fellow with the Academy of American Poets, a Macondista, a California Arts Council Fellow, a Tin House (McCormack) Workshop alumni, and a community curator in Los Angeles. Cheng’s writing is published in poets.org, Passengers Journal, Colossus:Current, and elsewhere. She is the co-editor and publisher of the immigrant rights anthology: Butterflies Over Land. She is the founder and a mentor for the Fountain Fellows program of wokelicious press. Cheng was named one of the Top 50 LGBTQ+ Impact Leaders by LA Magazine (2025). If you ask her about her poet dog, she might sing you his song parody. Online @JenCvoice or www.JenCvoice.com.
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