Poetry by Lynn Choi

Edited by Annika Lee

Blood’s dripping, to heartbeat rhythm,

sizzling

on the asphalt.

Sun shines on, rays unforgiving,

as it slips

away from reach.

My dear heart, this wicked thing,

swept away

in mirage winds.

Just to land

in decayed flower beds,

ever lost 

to faraway dreams.

So it goes—truth bites like ice.

But my dear heart

melts away.

–

When rain falls

from sunny skies,

let it fill

the gasping hollow.

But careful! Rising water

chokes your throat 

from inside out.

Rising still, 

to swarm the dark,

concrete cages

you’ve locked yourself in.

Careful too, of cracking skulls

on ceilings

of bloodstained stone.

Think instead, of songs spun from dreams,

lost in the trees,

notes set to heart’s beat.

–

I longed to thaw,

beneath sun’s rays,

my worn out,

aching heartlessness

Washed ashore,

with weary bones,

I crawled

to budding meadows

Then fixed my eyes

on new moon’s rise.

Dreamt I felt

the warmth of light.

And I sang—the loveliest tune

—a tune once lost,

then found,

amongst whispering trees 

where wildflowers used to grow.