1 poem
by Sophia Liu
Sophia Liu lives in New York. Her poems and artwork appear or are forthcoming in The Perch, Storm Cellar, The Ekphrastic Review, Whispering Prairie Press, Underblong, The Shore, and elsewhere. She has been recognized by the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the NCTE, Smith College, and Hollins University. She wants a pet cat.
Hymn with Changing Seasons
after "The Human Seasons" by John Keats
Four Seasons swathe the body in sewage lilies,
Comb the asphalt out of our fingertips. Winter:
A strawberry propagates silently, endlessly;
So much so that the bees scurry
Away, and soon, a handful of dried wasps arrive at our
Doorsteps. Come spring, the fruit
No longer tastes like a mystery. Winter’s snow feels
So foreign, so stark. You pick a purple aster
On your walk and wonder if this flower was ever as dark.
& the body, frail, holds summer’s hand
As its mother on her deathbed, praying to the
Autumn moon to return to a past life.
Orange leaves sweep by in a foxtrot and
Already winter again, you pick lavender,
Dice strawberries into a blue bowl. Snow settles and
Melts; water dribbles down your boots as you kick,
Already forgotten. Like your tongue, bewildered by
The red flesh of the carmine berry.