Ephemeral

On the wind, the scent of spring
A bed of littered sakura
The hawk strangles his prey;
Death beneath beauty

Belief

During a crisis, I once asked my mother if she were ever happy
And with shaking voice, she replied she had never been
Since she married my father
My heart plummeted
Would I suffer the same fate?
But it must be a lie
These photographs show a woman, young and content
Brimming with joy and love for the children in her arms
How easily we believe
“We will never be happy again”
When we are sad

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South Ferry

The lady on the brine we never visit
Her pale green gown rises like a strange tree on the Horizon
The sway of the boat lulls us across the narrow strait
Muddy dark and deep, urban waters
The violent orange of life jackets crouch
Beneath the hard wooden seat against my legs
As I stare out and you sit by, with an arm to ready upon my knee
The ship docks and calls for those to disembark
But we bide our time patiently and I climb down
To lean against your shoulder
As we make our roundtrip home, although we have never left

Anxiety

Many times I wish I were a stronger person
So I could disallow anxiety to rule me
Why fret over a situation I cannot change?
Why fret over a future that may not come to fruition?
That sticky quagmire robs me of joy and peace
Robs me of movement to do other things
To solve the problems that I can
And to build lasting trust in myself

Seascape

Over the sighing swell of the sea,
a touch of sun alights on my shoulder;
I am fulfilled like a tree is fulfilled —
holding branches out to embrace the day.

Self-Love

I once was the secret friend of a girl in fifth grade. We’d sit together in the gym and play, she’d tell me ghost stories and I’d run after her in tag. But that was only in after-school. When she saw me in the daytime, when the cliques of other girls turned their noses up at me, she pretended not to know me. In those days, I thought that was something I had to accept and felt so lonely. I still struggle with liking myself as an adult, but no matter how lonely I feel, I’m never going to accept a friendship that erodes me again.

Abandoned

When I was a little girl
My greatest sin was leaving
A kitten in the rain
Abandoned and alone, crawling along
the pavement, kneeling at my feet
Too afraid
To cuddle up to me

I reached down to stroke it
And it gratefully wiped itself dry on my jeans
Purring all the while

Want to keep it, I conferred with my sisters
Could not keep it, agreed with my sisters
And left it on the other side of the road
Crying after us