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Best Poems Written by Jasmine Tsai

Below are the all-time best Jasmine Tsai poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Jasmine Tsai Poem

I had a dream last night. When I looked into the mirror, I was wearing a denim mid-skirt with boots, and a dramatic yellow top with feathers—things I would never wear, least of all on a steaming summer day. I looked around and found myself on the dock, where my grandparents live in Keelung, Taiwan. My father’s ship departed from here when he was a marine; My mother would stand on the squeaky wooden platform as he left. The wind was damp and chilling—it’s always raining here, at my grandparents’. I used to hate it as a child, but I had a distinct memory from when I was an infant: when I cry, my father would take me to the bathroom and open the rain shower—the sound of rain would quiet me down, then my memory would black out. I guess I fell asleep...

A high-pitch note
———cut—through
my memory like shears.

I’m back on the dock, in denim skirt and boots and that funny yellow top. Then I saw her, a siren. I thought of her yesterday, when she surfaced in my poem. I've seen her before, once, in what I thought was hallucination. Her hair in a quaint braid, draped over one shoulder. Her skin aquamarine, so delicate I think I saw the veins underneath—but no blood was flowing. And her eyes—oh, her eyes—they were a milk-like off-white. A color somehow both calming and chilling. She hummed from somewhere deep in the sea. So far out I couldn’t have seen or heard, let alone fear her—Yet I did. Her voice coiled around my throat like a silent collar, ready to claim what once was mine—Suddenly she's in front of me. I tried to fight back, but what can one do when her vocal cords were ripped out brutally? So thin, those fragile cords. And yet, they alone stood between me and my voice. I wanted to grab them and stuff them back into my throat, but—she smiled like an innocent carol, then devoured them in front of me. My arms dropped. I nearly collapsed, but her touch froze me up right. Her lifeless touch sealed my bleeding wound, then my throat, then my mouth then nostrils then the rest of my limped body. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe—

Then I woke up,
cold sweat soaked my hair.
I still couldn’t breathe.
I reached for my throat—
she actually took my voice.

Details | Jasmine Tsai Poem

when is love decrepit

will love be decrepit when
trust is just a word thrown when we cannot win fights,
an excuse rather than a gospel… or is it long before then?

will love be decrepit when
she is home waiting, and he is alone under neon lights,
both drinking, asking, “can we ever be in the same room again?”

when she cannot speak as chaos seep into her pen,
and he cannot sleep knowing they want different nights
when there's no words left to exchange, is love decrepit then?

will love be decrepit when
he tells lies to avoid explanations, and she overlooks them to avoid fights.
a facade of rose gold castle, but what comes after then?

the silence in the castle can blind us, when
we swallow our differences to avoid plights.
love doesn’t lie, but people in love do, is love decrepit then?

truth is never love’s friend, not when
love falters the minute truth bites.
when we ask “will love be decrepit when—”
—it's already decrepit then.

Details | Jasmine Tsai Poem

Crayon Box Dreams

As a child, colors weave the way I dream,
Then what I feel and how I perceive.
My humming voice a dandelion stream.
Carnation pink, fairytales I used to believe.

As I grow my color palette shifts,
From rainbow of softness to only neutral gray.
I wear black heels, prepare neon gifts
For dinner parties I have to stay.

Sometimes I remember, how colors linger,
How my fingers once, on paper, dragged out hue.
It smears my dream in orange and lavender,
My crayon box, the only thing staying true.

I know my paintings inevitably go unseen,
Still, every night, I color my dream spring green.

Details | Jasmine Tsai Poem

eclipsed

A blot of ink
drifts        
           right of center.
It grows, devours—
Pale pages consumed by raven.

I asked the low, bruised sun
if my life still counts
when my pen scratches a scream—
but no words ever made it out.

My voice chases
inked shadow drips—spread
mourning 
silence 
they failed to fill.

The droplets never reached 
my paper—

the moon took over—
a thunder
the darkened sky stole my tears.


_________________

Quote from contest 'Choose a Line 2 Poetry Contest' sponsored by Joseph May: "The darkened sky stole my tears"

Edit on 5/30/2025 inspired by Joseph Randall

Details | Jasmine Tsai Poem

unintended innuendo

Season of violet grief
A day of navy oaths
The weather a dim pink hush— 
ghosts of past, my muse.

I accidentally wrote a letter
scrawled on pale paper—
Guess, my June, what spills forth
when your blade slips through—
—not me, the envelope.

Perhaps a carol, yes—
or an oration (how proud I was!)—
or—
no, not that—
—perhaps just a thin red thread,
words sealed in failing breath.
Ruins of 
all I dared offer.

Don’t blame me, love—
and oh, don’t fear me,
for all is said
as the letter burns—
in its pyre of regret.

Details | Jasmine Tsai Poem

the 22nd century wishing well

>>  true love, please.
[ERROR]unable to retrieve file 'true'
>>  fine, then just love.
[ERROR]file 'love' can’t exist without 'true'
>>  …just happiness, then.
[ERROR]requires connection to server 'live'

Best Poems Written by Jasmine Tsai

song of a tide

breathless, my journey ends

Ember Days-A poet’s diary

the unnamed

claimed voice

when is love decrepit

Crayon Box Dreams

eclipsed

unintended innuendo

the 22nd century wishing well