An online publication for creative work from diverse students at South Puget Sound Community College

May 21st: Haikus of Unspoken Loss & Companionship Given Form by Phoenix McClure

~ Collection One ~ 

Katana in moonlit grass, 

Its red fabric tails stretch, 

To touch the stars. 

A cat’s meow, 

Incandescent fangs, 

A companion’s roar, 

Silent tears caress cheeks, 

Familiar embrace soothes skin, 

Heard tears heal wounds. 

~ Collection Two ~ 

Departed cherry blossoms, 

Winds and tides of change, 

Resolve within roots. 

Hurts to speak, 

My native tongue struggles unsung, 

To be understood. 

Disenfranchised imposter syndrome, 

I can’t translate your departed soul, 

Except the keepsakes everyone mocks, 

Pieces of you irreplaceable to my heart, 

I yearn for the few who can see you, unclouded, 

Including my tears. 

From Phoenix:

My submitted work is two small collections of haikus, including one poem at the very end, I wrote with each one telling their own individual story. Collection 1 involves themes of companionship and how it can manifest from something as small as a gentle touch to bonds that feel larger than life and can withstand the test of the universe. While Collection 2 involves themes of belonging, the struggle to be seen and understood by the world as who you are, and healing from disenfranchised grief.

Phoenix Peterson

Art & Communications