POETRY : Softer, Softest by Shelley Wong
Shelley Wong recently released her, take it from us, fantastic debut poetry collection As She Appears (YesYes Books). The collection is a journey across Wong’s life and love as a queer woman of color from suburban California to San Francisco and beyond. To help celebrate the release Wong recorded the poem “Softer, Softest” for this here website.
Softer, Softest
by Shelley Wong
Like a bandleader, one cardinal cuts through
the filigree trees. The poet rolls her shoulder,
wheels its notches, her muscles clicking out
as if flexing wings. For each tiny leaf & bud:
a pearl of rain. Last night, a man ripped his car
down the street & danced in his headlights
so the neighbors came out & screamed
into his trap song. Birds decorate the morning
trilling is it you? is it me? After too much caffeine,
the poet sweats, sways & tries to write a line
about eternity. A bird possesses both a song
& a call. All day, she watched the glitter
travel across the pond like television snow.
A white pageant crowds her path
as she revives the spiraling feeling, the last time
a mouth ignited her like spring.
