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

A Childhood

she likes flowers 

she says 

she sees my color

so bright 

that i have many

vivid hues

sparkling like light

on a rainbow

after a downpour

she likes roses

she says

she doesn’t like thorns

when the storms

of life are coming 

and she cares

too much about them 

but I ignore them

like they never happened

like storms don’t visit our house.

she becomes increasingly

vulnerable as flowers do too 

i still ignore them

I awakened

with a start

they walked away 

from our garden

i laid tears in bed all night

by Naka Nono

30 Phrases

looking completely

terrified the brave

young lady and

her hungry young man

were on the run 

hands, shaking

close friends arrested and

executed for their beliefs 

but we were not left

to die alone in prison,

with no blood and pain.

war put their friendship right

and peace with an outcome

of courage put to the test

retained with a good night’s sleep

lonely was she when she did not 

have someone in her life. 

others reflected her emotional

feeling and hope was her

greatest gift when she 

faced life’s hardest battles 

that helped us settle 

our disagreements

on a tiny battery-powered 

transistor radio

     by Rika Kishaba 

LIke a Dream

I stand on the ground

and see a girl before me crying 

we were racing around, playing 

and I took her off to her teacher 

after a while we would run around

again smiling 

in the long haul we are running with

many many friends

I remember that experience 

like a vivid dream

by Ayari Taira

Beautiful Place

there are sounds still  

even when I close

my eyes I can hear

them there in the sand 

white and shining where 

there is a whole world 

of creatures always changing 

moving, living in the small

homes where I feel and see them

beneath me on the beach

by Ayari Taira

A Special Place

sparing time

between classes

i venture to the rooftop

on a sunny day

i lie on the ground

hear the songs of birds in trees

and feel the comfortable wind

on a rainy day

i go to the limit of the roof

and hear the soft sound of rain

the roof is a wonderful

place where I become

alone and can face myself

calmly

                by Yuka Kinjo