December

15, 2017

Their child stays indoors,
purifier blowing
the house air clear
for his homecoming.
He’d put his ear
to her womb, the heart
of the unborn beating
goodbye at the door.
The winds elsewhere
are blowing, whistling
through the canyon
bearing torches before
them. Alarms beckon.
He’d trained for this part,
ax, hose, mask, yellow
uniform, amulet
round his slender neck, eyes
hooded like an owl’s.
Such a man she’d wanted—
sweetly strong muscled,
such as the fire gods call
away in the sunrise.

Shirley Geok-lin Lim’s first book Crossing the Peninsula received the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. Awarded the Multiethnic Literatures of the United States Lifetime Achievement Award, she’s published ten poetry collections; three short story collections; two novels (Joss and Gold and Sister Swing); a children’s novel, Princess Shawl, and The Shirley Lim Collection. Her memoir, Among the White Moon Faces, received the American Book Award. Her co-edited anthology, The Forbidden Stitch, received an American Book Award in 1990.
 
(Photo by Nell Campbell)

Joss and Gold. by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim Joss and Gold. by Shirley Geok-Lin Lim