Plum Blossoms
by Wing Tek Lum
A hush descends upon the hard earth,
betraying no tears.
The gaunt plum hugs the river.
Its branches, shorn of leaves,
reach out like stark cries
in the Winter night, a spider’s agony.
Yet nubs of blossoms
nudge through the crinkled bark
on one twig, then another.
Buds nestle in crooks and crevices,
white as frost, grudging smiles,
a compassion nourished from within,
seeking air, seeking light.
From THE NANJING MASSACRE: POEMS by Wing Tek Lum with permission from Bamboo Ridge Press.
Wing Tek Lum is a Honolulu businessman and poet. His first collection of poetry, EXPOUNDING THE DOUBTFUL POINTS, was published by Bamboo Ridge Press in 1987. He is the 2014 recipient of an Elliot Cades Award for Literature. You can find out more about his work at www.bambooridge.com.
Birthday
by Sue Cowing
A poem is a baby slowly forming
in the fluid inner world:
toes out of nowhere,
eyelashes out of heartbeat.
Like a dolphin, born tail-first
so it won’t drown
in a world of water.
Then someone, is it the mother?
nudges it to the surface, crooning
breathe now, breathe.
[gn_divider]
Kōnane
by Sue Cowing
At Kaʻena, fire and waterline up their stones
dull black lavaround white coral
for the island’s oldest kōnane gamemoves so slow
the stones are all we see.
Sue Cowing is a local author active in the Hawaiʻi literary community. Her latest work is a middle-grade novel You Will Call Me Drog. Birthday was originally published in Bamboo Ridge.
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