A Gloomy Farewell

the shrill, strident signal screaming

in my ears striving to shatter

my eardrums a typical start to 

a new day hearing my bones crack

and creak insisting I vacate my bed

my mind murmuring to me

keep your eyelids sealed

downing my cold morning medicine

a chloroform to silence the murmur

I force myself to bid a gloomy farewell

to my warm blankets who had wrapped

me in comfort through the night

by Sakura Ishadoh

Going and Coming

my mom made in May
macaroni and cheese to
fatten me up and, as she said,
to layer my bones with meat

were i a seabird of prey
living above the ocean,
flying across the vast blue 
I would return to Okinawa
the green salty diamond
of the Pacific to tell the
next generation the fat will
be passed down forever
with our love for all those
who follow

by Asaka Gima