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.