Poem: Signs of Life

Written on a "writing marathon" walk around ASU campus during CAWP Summer Institute.

2017-06-14

Signs of Life
I do not always know their names
But the shapes are familiar
Baked into my childhood memories
By years of sun and heat:

Wide, flat paddles covered in spikes
Tinged purple at the edges

Clusters of tall spears
Bursting in all directions like fireworks

Dusty green limbs, a folded lady’s fan
Stretching up and out like fingers toward the sky

Low wide barrels, ridges and valleys lined with needles
Always squatting alone

While their taller cousins reach long arms toward their neighbors
But also up and up toward cloudless, unrelenting blue.

Where I'm From, Part B

2017-06-13

Where I’m From, Part B

I am from dirt and rock

And slowly withering grass—

“Desert Landscaping”.

I am from the overgrown oleander bush

Standing guard beneath our front window—

Look, but don’t touch.

I am from too-big gardening gloves,

From pulling weeds in the yard with Daddy

And ice water after, tooth-achingly cold.

I’m from tacos and dim sum,

Hot tea and cool salsa,

Tamales and fried rice.

I’m from Chinese nursery songs with Grandma,

And English ones from PBS,

From Daddy’s cracked hands

And Mommy’s curly brown hair,

From staying up too late reading books to my sister

In the bed whose bottom bunk we shared

And filled the top with a zoo of stuffed animals.

I am from music, always, everywhere,

From piano, trumpet, flute, stereo, television, and portable sing-along cassette player,

From boy bands and hymns, the Bee Gees and Disney,

From “Peace Like a River” and “Hit Me Baby One More Time”,

From singing and listening and playing and rehearsing
and spontaneous bursts of song like uncontained joy.

IT'S ALIVE!

I know I literally haven't posted in years, so please be warned: post-CAWP deluge of posts coming (or maybe a small stream at least)! Scraps of poems, essays, little writing sketches. I think it's time to start posting again.

If you're reading this, bless your heart. You are a better friend than I deserve.