May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.

Our guest editor is Su Hwang, author of Lyricality’s Read Poetry 2020 selection Bodega.

Merle Geode is a queer, non-binary poet, writer, multidisciplinary artist, and shamanic practitioner living with metastatic breast cancer and a hot mess of other human conditions. They often use ritual and trance as generative—and healing—processes to give stories containers in many forms. Their work explores grief, chaos/disruption, and messy embodiment. In fall 2019, they began their MFA in Poetry at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. They are a former food writer, dog groomer, and Loft Literary Center Mirrors & Windows Fellow. They are currently working on a picture book about anticipatory grief and death.

Su Hwang selects “Azaleas” by Merle Geode
Hint for reading: to preserve formatting, read this poem on a desktop/laptop or turn your device horizontally

Azaleas
by Merle Geode

/

​​​​Cameras flashing………………………………
…..​​​​​convex conservatory ceiling​
​​​​bonsai pageant beneath…………………..

​​​​‘enjoy with your eyes only’​​ ………………coil and shrink ​
…………………………………………………………………………..​​​​​​​​prized for being
small……………………………………………………………………………………………………………​​​​​​​
quite possibly…………………​​​………………. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

thousands will pass without……………………………………………….. ​​​​​​​​​

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….even knowing your names:

​​​​​Rhododendron indicum <in training>………………………………………………………..
………………………………………………………………………………………………..​​​​​​​​Rhododendron sp. <in training>
​​​Rhododendron indicum “koyo” <in training>

<training>

My dad 
used to joke 
………that he would 
send my mother 
back to Korea for <training>
I cannot unsee her, dragged across the floor.

// 

Bonsai is what has……………………………………………………………………………. 
been done to you. Foremost,…………………………………………………………… 
you are azaleas.………………………………………………………………………………

///   

​​​​​Pink……………………..​​​
​​blOOms……………………..​…………five-petaled ​​…………
​​like ………………………………..​​​my……………………………………….. ​​​hand
…………………….​​​whOrled…………………..​​……………grabbing……………………..​​starred—

sOmewhere…………………………………. ​​​dOt………………………………………………….. ​​​​mOuntainsides

​​ bOnsai is…………………………​​a process ………………………………….

…………………………………………<disruption of fOrm>…………………………​​​​that reduces…………………………​​…​​the size of leaves 

……………………………………….​but​​ …………………….the flOwers ​​……………………….remain ………………..​the same ………………………..​​size ​​

…………………………..as in the wild— 

​​​​​​​……………………………………………………………….sOme of ​…………………..yOu
​​​is wild……………………………………………………….

***

“Azaleas” by Merle Geode ©2021. Appears here with permission of the author.

Read the essay, “One’s a Crowd,” where poet and visual artist Merle Geode maps a spiritual history and creative practice, from the public library to a South Korean temple to a cathedral in France. This essay is part of the series “Decolonizing the Invisible: Art and Spirit” by guest editor Sun Yung Shin, for MN Artists at Walker Art Center.

to read more about Merle Geode: Click Here.