Pushed away: Kale (I)

It arranges itself last as a matter of course, last served, last considered, last to state a preference, and turns aside the affection that would disturb the arrangement. Deprivation and belittling at home taught it early that its portion of love was small and that reaching for more would be embarrassing, so the last place became a habit and a hiding place at once. What it asks for is to name one want before anyone else names theirs, and to hold the position for the length of a sentence.

Put me at the end of the list. I'm more comfortable down there.

It echoes Simcheong, the Korean daughter who sold herself to the sea merchants to buy back her blind father's sight and never counted her own life among the things worth saving. The form implies a task: to enter oneself on the list of people being rescued.