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An Ode to MC Jin Ending in Response to the Chinese Virus Outbreak

June 3, 2020/ Masaki Takahashi

The outbreak poured

all over the hallways

flooding with freestyles.

Biters with their teeth marks

on another person’s rhymes.

The truest emcees, always stay ready

to spit some sick shit.

Walking into the lunchroom with punch lines

like concealed weapons, ready to draw

if someone starts banging to the beat of “Grinding”

on the lunch tables.


Emerged on national TV

a Chinky eyed rapper cloaked in oversized hip hop gear,

freestyle battled for 7 straight weeks

and crowned champion,

inspired me to have my own voice and rebuttals

to anything racist or xenophobic.


I learned to have an adrenaline rush

for any enemy to get crushed.

I learned to have confidence

in times that were ominous.

My sharpened tongue, the best shield and weapon.

Figuring out figures of speech

when they tried to disfigure me

with off-colored comments.

I cleared the air and deflected every bullet with humor.

I became so immune to their attacks.


But today, I don’t have a back-pocket punchline,

rhyme scheme, or rebuttal to flip this global pandemic.

When they say I look like the source,

words of hate have turned into harassment.

Paranoia has turned into a boycott of family-owned Chinese restaurants.

Rampant misinformation has created the greatest deformations.


People are dying

They’re trying to find a cure, some kind of treatment.

I am no doctor,

but I know this is not how anybody should be treated.


I don’t even feel comfortable in public coughing,

Without someone trying to put a nail in it.

And that’s nothing to sneeze at.

No hand washing or hand sanitizer will clean you of your phobias.


So let me take off my mask.

Every breath I have ever taken had to be perfect.

I have never been scared of any virus except this strain

made of stress.


The fear, the tactics deployed to break me down,

their reasons, their insecurities

calling me unclean.

Stripping me of my manhood to sterilize me.

Until they need my culture for another trend.

Until their dragon lady fetish kicks back in.

Until they need something from Amazon or Walmart.


I have been doing this beyond my reach of seven weeks.

I have championed for my dignity.

I lived this before, time and time again.

I have never turned down a battle.

I am always coming back to this lunchroom,


Attacked, needing to be ready for what may be said

to whoever I need to say it to.

Sick or not, they will always prefer me with my mouth covered.

Credit: Kevin Nguyen

Masaki Takahashi is a spoken word artist from Lansing, MI, and the founder/host of The Poetry Room Open Mic. Masaki loves hip hop and poetry. These art forms have allowed him to be able to share his story as a first-generation immigrant. Masaki was named one of “Six people to watch: Leaders making a difference in Lansing business scene and community” by the Lansing State Journal. Above all, Masaki is most proud of workshopping with local high school students in the Lansing area and watching their growth. For more on Masaki, please visit

IG: @TheOriginalSaki, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/theoriginalsaki,

or website: www.the517poetryroom.com.

To hear this poem: https://soundcloud.com/masaki-takahashi-9/an-ode-to-mc-jin-ending-in-response-to-the-chinese-virus-outbreak

Issue Archive

  • Issue 22: Winter/Spring 2023
  • Issue 21: Summer/Fall 2022
  • Issue 20: Winter/Spring 2022
  • Issue 19: Summer/Fall 2021
  • Issue 18: Winter/Spring 2021
  • Issue 17: Summer/Fall 2020
  • Issue 16: Winter/Spring 2020
  • Issue 15: Summer/Fall 2019
  • Issue 14: Winter/Spring 2019
  • Issue 13: Summer/Fall 2018
  • Issue 12: Winter/Spring 2018
  • Issue 11: Summer/Fall 2017
  • Issue 10: Winter/Spring 2017
  • Issue 9: Summer/Fall 2016
  • Issue 8: Winter/Spring 2016
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  • Issue 6: Winter/Spring 2015
  • Issue 5: Summer/Fall 2014
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  • Issue 1: Spring 2012

Genre Archive

  • Creative Nonfiction
  • Essays
  • Fiction
  • Flash Prose
  • Lunch Specials
  • Poetry
  • Interviews
  • Translation
  • Visual Art
  • Writing for Young People

Friday Lunch Blog

Friday Lunch! A serving of contemporary essays published the second Friday of every month.

Today’s course:

How to Kill a Cat, or How to Prepare for CATastrophe

March 10, 2023/in Blog / Meghan McGuire
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/51458407-FB7D-4C1F-AD98-9E3181F097C9.jpg 2288 2288 Meghan McGuire https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Meghan McGuire2023-03-10 11:55:512023-03-08 12:08:20How to Kill a Cat, or How to Prepare for CATastrophe

The Night I Want to Remember

December 16, 2022/in 2023ws-migration, Blog / Sanaz Tamjidi
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/paul-volkmer-qVotvbsuM_c-unsplash-scaled-1.jpg 1704 2560 Sanaz Tamjidi https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Sanaz Tamjidi2022-12-16 16:12:142022-12-16 16:12:14The Night I Want to Remember

From Paper to the Page

November 18, 2022/in 2023ws-migration, Blog / Annie Bartos
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Midnight Snack

Take a bite out of these late night obsessions.

Tonight’s bites:

Point Break & Top Gun Are More Than Homoerotic Action Movies

March 3, 2023/in Midnight Snack / Michaela Emerson
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/ECD45731-BD0A-4144-9DDE-DBE45519C4A6.jpeg 2461 1882 Michaela Emerson https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Michaela Emerson2023-03-03 23:45:542023-03-04 00:06:21Point Break & Top Gun Are More Than Homoerotic Action Movies

Mending the Heart and Slowing Down: Reintroducing Myself to Mexican Cooking

October 7, 2022/in Midnight Snack / Megan Vasquez
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/jason-briscoe-VBsG1VOgLIU-unsplash-scaled.jpg 1707 2560 Megan Vasquez https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Megan Vasquez2022-10-07 23:55:352022-10-07 19:31:09Mending the Heart and Slowing Down: Reintroducing Myself to Mexican Cooking

The Worth of a Billionaire’s Words

September 23, 2022/in Midnight Snack / Kirby Chen Mages
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Amuse-Bouche

Little bites every third Friday to whet your appetite!

Today’s plate:

On Such a Full Sea Are We Now

March 17, 2023/in Amuse-Bouche / Jemma Leigh Roe
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/JLR.jpeg 1204 1042 Jemma Leigh Roe https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Jemma Leigh Roe2023-03-17 11:55:192023-03-20 12:27:25On Such a Full Sea Are We Now

The Russian Train

February 24, 2023/in Amuse-Bouche / Cammy Thomas
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/06BA84B9-9FF6-4D6C-97E3-9F02075E851D.jpeg 2042 1609 Cammy Thomas https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Cammy Thomas2023-02-24 14:30:592023-02-24 11:40:48The Russian Train

Still Life

October 31, 2022/in Amuse-Bouche / Daniel J. Rortvedt
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/827C31B5-92AE-4C32-9137-3B4AED885093-scaled.jpeg 2560 1920 Daniel J. Rortvedt https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Daniel J. Rortvedt2022-10-31 11:59:312022-10-30 21:59:49Still Life

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School Lunch

An occasional Wednesday series dishing up today’s best youth writers.

Today’s slice:

I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

May 12, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Brendan Nurczyk
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/SL-Insta-Brendan-Nurczyk-2.png 1500 1500 Brendan Nurczyk https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Brendan Nurczyk2021-05-12 10:18:392022-02-01 13:24:05I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard

A Communal Announcement

April 28, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Isabella Dail
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SL-FB-Isabella-Dail.png 788 940 Isabella Dail https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Isabella Dail2021-04-28 11:34:132021-04-28 11:34:13A Communal Announcement

Seventeen

April 14, 2021/in School Lunch, School Lunch 2021 / Abigail E. Calimaran
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https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/SL-Insta-Abigail-E.-Calimaran.png 1080 1080 Abigail E. Calimaran https://lunchticket.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/lunch-ticket-logo-white-text-only.png Abigail E. Calimaran2021-04-14 11:22:062021-04-14 11:22:06Seventeen

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Word From the Editor

Our contributors are diverse and the topics they share through their art vary, but their work embodies this mission. They explore climate change, family, relationships, poverty, immigration, human rights, gun control, among others topics. Some of these works represent the mission by showing pain or hardship, other times humor or shock, but they all carry in them a vision for a brighter world.

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