I wrote you a letter yesterday, while the sun slid down, our son squalling in his sheets. I wrote, I filled three sheets word by word, letter by letter before I turned the lights down before I sang him down to sleep, and down came the rain in rivers and in sheets. This much is … Continue reading What I wrote
Tag: poem
Translation
幼稚園 a red backpack bigger than you 一年生 gap-toothed smile and mismatched socks 二年生 an uncaged bird on wheels, not wings 三級 knowing the ropes brother in tow 四年生 torn shirt and wounded heart 五年生 solid as a tree with deep roots
Let me count the ways
Love is finite, like the stars
Elegy for a small town childhood
i. I see myself in the stumps and pits where trees used to grow in the absence of the white pine where I measured myself against the height of green branches that slowly overtook the front yard and cast shadows that frightened me as a girl I see myself in the cracks between the flagstones … Continue reading Elegy for a small town childhood
The truth of honey and salt
You once told me, the moon is made of salt, that all the tears that ever were are kept hidden there, disguised as dust. You spoke matter-of-factly, your pale face made sanguine by the dying sun. With deft fingers you stole dew from the grass, bade me drink from your palm. Above us, fronds of … Continue reading The truth of honey and salt