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The Land That Glitters
by Juni Park
photo credit: Karim Manjra on Unsplash
Cottage Poem
by Greg Santos
photo credit: Wina Tristiana on Unsplash
it was just a line in the sand
by Chae Yeon Kim
ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono
by Ed Go
photo credit: Mareko Tamaleaa on Unsplash
sleepless
by Clara Yu
photo credit: Evan Cheng
Samurai Koi with Paulette shhhh
by Kunio Hagio
Carving Yellowtail
by Lucy Chuang
photo credit: Hasan Almasi on Unsplash
sylvia
by Shina Peng
Colorful American romance
by Aaron Hahn
Undiluted Kimchi Milk
by Erikka Durdle
Sapphire
by Yuna Kang
return queue
by Xiadi Zhai
photo credit: Nitish Kadam on Unsplash
Joy
by Diego Luis
Writing the Icon of Lakapati
by Cristina Legarda
The Spaniards arrived and encountered fecundity
the lush greenness of taro terraces,
ripe fruits falling from branches surrendering
to the weight of their abundance, trees
with green leaves so large
we could shelter beneath them in the rain,
an uninhibited earth almost flamboyant
in its yielding and giving,
endless green over lowlands and mountains
and a bluish-green at the shore.
Kissaten fantasy
by Khang Tan Pham
photo credit: Kevin Wu on Unsplash
Persimmons
by Selina Li Bi
photo credit: Adrian Stewart on Unsplash
What We Feed Ourselves
During quarantine, many of us are eating at home much more often than before. Whether this means physically eating in our home versus prepping food to take to work, or cooking for ourselves instead of going out to eat, our home-food-scape has changed drastically. In quarantine, I have struggled to put care and love into feeding myself the way that comes easily to me when feeding or sharing food with others. I hope that, while in the chaos of a global pandemic, we can treasure the foods that make us feel safe and cared for, and give ourselves a little bit of love in the ways we feed ourselves.
Grandma’s House
As we continue to shelter-in-place, I would spend days and hours reflecting and mourning for a world that may never come back. I would create sketches of both my homeland and Chicago to release stress as I try to find a new “normal.” I think of being confined to our home, wondering how families in other nations are coping, losing business as supplies and customers dwindle, and a sense of loneliness that comes with isolation. Through it all, I still hope and pray that at the end of this, we would become better, to not take for granted all that we had, and to heal.
Visiting Hours (for Carole)
by Lani T. Montreal
photo credit: Hide Obara on Unsplash
The Mahasiddha Field
by Dwai Lahiri
During a time that has since been relegated to the annals of mythology, two groups of advanced beings, begotten by the same Father, but to different mothers cohabitated the world along with the human race.
Mi Papa II
by Eulalio Fabie de Silva
True Postcards from Paradise: An Interview with Hannah Ii-Epstein Exploring Her Play, Pakalolo Sweet, & Life in the Diaspora
Even today when people think of Hawai’i, white sand beaches, lush mountains and friendly, Aloha-spirited people easily come to mind. The vision of Hawai’i as a paradise free from the stressors of mainland life is firmly planted in the American psyche thanks to decades of commodified tourism. If people think of native Hawaiians at all, it is likely the image of the coconut bra and lei-wearing hula girl, swinging her hips and smiling for gleeful tourists. Most know very little about the complex history and culture of Hawai’i or what life is like for locals and Native Hawaiians today.
Words to Live By
by Kim Fountain
My mother’s favorite question is, “They pay you to talk?” In my sweet 80-year old mother’s tone there are also two comments. One being, “So stupid that this is a job” and the other, “Wow, my child is smart”, but not smart in the sense of what it is I actually say, but in that by talking, I make money.
My mom left school at age twelve to work 15 hour days on her feet. She has never been to a meeting in her life and has never touched a computer beyond dusting it so, for her, my desk job and its meeting after meeting schedule is ridiculous because I can’t point to a final product. I do add in, that now and again, I need to say something of use or I don’t get asked back. By then though, she is off on another subject.
I know that there is not as much difference between us as she might think. It is after all, because of her that I figured out that words, used to trouble and even sometimes rupture power, would eventually carry me toward a sense of purpose.
Our Land, Our Tribe, Our Lives
by Jessa Mae Mendiola
Standing Together
by Lisa Tomiko Macri
Sapiosexual Seeks Lumbersexual / Meandering Thoughts on Dating Apps
by Tina Bhaga
We’re snowboarding and jumping off airplanes, kissing babies, and kitted up real nice at friends’ weddings. The curated montage of ..
Growing Up Shiseido: Chain Stores, Beauty Magazines, and Whitening Cream
by Jane Hseu
My grandfather founded the Taiwanese branch of Shiseido, the high-end Japanese cosmetics company. The family story, told to me by his daughter, my mother, is that during WWII, while Taiwan was under Japanese colonization, my grandfather went to Japan to work, leaving his young wife to take care of their young daughter and his aged parents in the hardships of the Taiwanese countryside. For my grandmother, my mother said, life was bitter. After working at Shiseido in Japan, my grandfather founded Shiseido in Taiwan, Shiseido’s first overseas venture, and became a rich man. There were tens of millions of Taiwanese women to whom he could sell make-up and skin products.
photo credit: Chao-Yan on Upsplash
Alligator-Balligator
by Shu-Ping Tseng
This Mortal Coil
by Samina Hadi-Tabassum
Every night around 2 AM
Starting in early May
My son began sleepwalking
He climbed out of bed
And walked into our room
Where we lay awake waiting for him
photo credit: Samson Creative Upsplash
Ruins
by James Kao