a Kwa is a collection of poems that weaves themes of alienation and reconciliation between the past and the present. It is work that explores themes of grieving and recovery from illness, touching on the unseen aspects of surviving intergenerational trauma, on the challenges of being part of the Asian diaspora in North America in a time of rising violence against BIPOC people, and on the isolation that accompanies living through a global pandemic. Through all these elements, the collection asserts the love of self as inseparable from the care of others.