Asian Solidarity
(TW: Small mention of blood and violence from a racially motivated hate crime.)
Discrimination
Silenced my mother’s native tongue
Coated with Biluochun tea
Spoons … Read more
Jenn Martin
Why Are You Here?
for Sayeh (Shadow)
Poet
from the forest-covered mountains
you celebrated the land that jailed you
When the radio broadcast your patriotic song
your jail guards and cellmates asked,
“Why are … Read more
The Last Text
We drove with the sunroof open
So the breeze could tangle our hair.
We rolled through stop signs,
We ran reds as the others did,
And we pressed send on … Read more
In New York We Say
In New York, we say
we are safe from these
frivolous wills, bursting
forth with the
overzealousness
of man.
In Idaho, we watch
as they say:
“Let God’s will be—… Read more
City Garden
The community garden where I grow tomatoes,
green peppers, zucchini, and gladiolas.
My little piece of heaven – twelve by twelve
what more could I ask … Read more
CLIMATES CHANGE
Disquiet, dis-ease, deceit
permeate the atmosphere,
suspended
like stale smoke.
Trying to navigate the pollution
of fake facts confounds,
as no fresh breezes appear
to clear the murkiness.
Living in … Read more
Under a Tree
High school sweethearts celebrating
56 years of marriage on a trip to DC.
to find their fate hiding under a tree
Traveling 803 miles from Janesville, WI
to explore the … Read more
O, Cool Water
the quencher of perpetual thirsts,
the extinguisher of sporadic wildfires,
the melter of wicked witches,
why besmirch your goodness
with outbursts that flood unwary towns
in a flash, turn docile … Read more
Man in Flames
The man has been
burned out of his
clothes, out of
the wheat field he
was trying to save
when the wind turned
the flames that outflanked
and overran him.… Read more
UVALDE 2022
beloved innocents taken
pour red upon our fragile homes
in morning light spilled with guilt
we fret, we cry, we blame
measure the distance of our fall
a too-late urgency… Read more
Not Completely Satisfied
The dress I ordered arrived today
in teal blue, not aqua. And of course
I know it’s not much of a grievance
beside the bodies pulled
from bombed buildings in … Read more
Freedom, Grade One
The first things Ayden is taught
in school is there are a dozen
desks between his and the door
and the best route to take in a sprint
to the … Read more
Intersection
The mountain blushes at the sight
of freedom showing off its underwear
at the corner of 48th and Elliot
where the campaign signs have recently… Read more
No Longer Yours
Dearest politicians,
Don’t call me senseless.
Don’t call me by a different self.
Don’t call me this or that
Or anything else
I can’t stand it,
I have no time—… Read more
Irrelevant Daughters
You’re tied to kin that capture
your heart in moonlight
but your hallucinations
are made up of mechanisms
of distrust, dotted
with purple aster.
Inside a church: shoes
lined up … Read more