Sex+: “Face to Face” by Norman Tran

Face to Face

When he stepped out
of his black sesame Tesla,
a silver cross licked
his ear—dangling like the dog
charms leashed
to his phone. Phones.

It wasn’t a buzz or jingle
but a woof woof
that broke the silence
of his photos lying—
but generously.

Shaking off the tank
from one breast to bicep,
he was dangerously close
to Yakuza. 

But his voice:
a kind of mochi-
infused bourbon howl.

Below the belt:
outrageously Adonis.

It became harder
and harder to ask
questions like
where he was from,
or for his name.

So I brought his face
to mine. Nose to nose.
Brown iris to brown iris.
Animal to animal.

This was not a fresh
immigrant, or native-born
Chinese. Nothing was native
about the way he searched
my body
for squirrels or birds
behind his eyes.

Apparently, I had refused
him before, six years ago.
He showed me in Grindr,
the broken English. Was
that why? I don’t remember.

Yet there we were,
his skin barely keeping
me outside
as his sweat pulled
again and again
sheets over my
panting.

I did not yet know
why in December
would a man need
the highest
setting
of AC.

Later, when we no longer
needed four legs,
I saw the places
he dug into his
arms.

It wasn’t the winter
that put the moon in him.

About Norman Tran

Norman Tran (he/they) is a queer, neurodivergent Chinese American poet from Los Angeles. Their work appears in Tell Me About the Dream (Papaya Press, 2025), Seventh Wave, Multiplicity Magazine, and Gather. Norman is a finalist for Hayden’s Ferry Review’s Poetry Contest, longlisted for Palette Poetry’s Queer Poetry Prize, and nominated for Best of the Net. They are a 2026 Periplus Fellow and have received support from Hugo House, Hudson Valley Writing Center, Frontier Poetry, and GrubStreet. They are working towards their debut collection, cross-examining Gaysian polyamorous relationships and the patterns that make us love recklessly, silently, exponentially.