When the veil between the past and present flutters I see the source of my healing touch and intuitive reading I see my fear of being in the water Waves…
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Ox Writing Contest -- May 2021
Still Hungry
Craving comfort food I challenge myself to parallel park Right in front of Jane’s Saimin Stand Japanese high notes bounce along wooden walls From the old jukebox in the corner….
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Ox Writing Contest -- April 2021 Contest
No Left Turns
No Left Turns (First) 25 words I wanted to dance Tahitian in Waikiki. I was almost an exchange student in Argentina. I was fearless. My Mother wasn’t. Paths for other…
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Ox Writing Contest
Meet Up At Kalapawai Cafe
Meet Up At Kalapawai Cafe I waved at the young Filipina waitress, I need ketchup for my fries when you can come. She came, gave me kindness with ketchup…
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Ox Writing Contest
Take It Off
Take It Off Too tight, Buckaroo, All da sides squeezing me so hard I no can breathe, When da seams bust loose 10,000 words going flood da ridge.
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Rat -- February 2021 Contest
Harvest
Harvest Red dirt and pineapple fields stain my memories. Alongside rows of pineapple, I sat on dusty red roads and ate from my kau-kau tin with the old lady gang….
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Rat -- February 2021 Contest
Almost The Same
Almost The Same He thought about when he dug graves to earn money. They stacked sixty bodies in the shed that winter the ground froze hard. Flashforward to a half-century…
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Rat -- February 2021 Contest
Indelible
Indelible Allegra once told me You carry sadness in your eyes, She was sure there were stories To tell in the way women can That meander to love and…
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Rat -- January 2021 Contest
New Year
New Year I am not Japanese most of the year. I throw my head back and laugh loud from my belly. I wear kalakoa clothes. But come the New Year,…
Bamboo Shoots Submission for Year of the Rat -- January 2021 Contest
All I Want
All I Want The general contractor tells me to get a farmer’s sink if I can afford it. I imagine the farmer’s wife deep in the sink, elbows in the…