Grace Shieh, Lost Child, Red

Lost Child, Red

Grace Shieh

There used to be a calendar we’d follow In little red ink, italicized Festivals marked With seasons and weather

There’s a sayingNever put your blankets away Until the Dragon Boat Festival When summer will finally come

These red markings bear A tradition of knowledge An invisible child The family tends and grooms

Today, a week before the Dragon Boat Festival Our blankets are long gone The AC roaring on

With a couple of taps I unlocked a weather app The typhoon is late It’s snowing in April

Instead of planning the seasons We count our days Today, tomorrow- the twenty-four-hour forecast

In little red ink, italicized There used to be a calendar we’d follow A lost generation of red Words that no longer make sense

In the end I’m not sure what happened The seasons, the past The red Abandoning us or Abandoned by us?

this is how the world moves

Sreerag JR

Untitled Rayna Li