you can play dumb, but

those empty whisky bottles

didn't drink themselves

only ever meant

to be a rain drop she spread

into her own sea

free melancholy

for those who feel without end

all rivers undammed

She is my daughter.

So unlike my younger self,

And yet, a mirror.

white dress, whitened sheets;

wilted roses the color

of her bleeding sleeves.

Aloft leaf settles

A blade of steel grass

Journey unnoticed

When Noriyo smiles

at me across the ocean

sea shrinks to puddle.

The willow tree weeps

Fireflies light up the sky

Shepherding lost souls

A wind blows soundly

While sand blasts your soft flesh;

Reshaping your soul