Two Poems

Praise Osawaru

blue melody

(2024)

In the dream,
I am by the sea.

The water throws itself before me in waves;
its sound, the slow drag of loss.

I stare at my reflection & wonder how I became
the boy with abandoned bird nests for eyes.

There’s nothing to do but toss pebbles
across the water—
say I am the pebble being bounced yards away:

I am afraid of sinking—

I cannot lose myself
to the saltwater.

The sun is lost and lonely, too, in the sky.
I scream & the earth absorbs the echo.

By the sea,
I’m in a dream.

Flood Haibun

(2024)

The rain comes again with new secrets to spill. I do not wish to be a dumping ground. But what
choice does an empty glass have? I might as well be the land calling for a flood. The dark room
my shadow. Cold air seeps through the walls, crushing me into a blanket. I ignore the
rain as it turns to music. They say there are melodies in our bodies, but I can’t find harmony.
Somewhere across the world, a heat wave rages. The last time I got burned, it was from words. I
have only ever wanted light in my chest, not a dark sky. Why offer me a canoe without paddles?
Let me wade in the water with my boots on or pull the sun from its pocket. I can kiss the dry land
with its parched leaves in search of warmth. Anything to avoid drowning.

The moon spills on trees,
birds begin a symphony—
the land sips the flood.

Cover image: Black Sea at Night, anonymous, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons