At moonset from Boston Harbor

for my father – on our walk tonight, let’s take the long way home

I heard the warbling of October, adieu,
your soft opalescence of hope along
the slope of the Okura,
its fine serenity made of impossibly
steep hills, narrow paths of timeless tradition and
ceremony, Old Tokyo never sleeping –

The neon lights of Roppongi give way,
thrust into an array of sunlight,
its temple bells, its utter calm and fragility
accompanying the street sweepers
who emerge from subway tunnels,
and unmarked doors, donning
crisp blue jackets, and clean white gloves,
who sweep the storefronts spotless –
sweep the high-heeled boot prints,
the glittered streets.

By Georgia San Li

Biography:

Georgia San Li is at work on a novel, poetry and other writings. Her poetry and writing appears or is forthcoming in the Antigonish, Atlanta Review, Confluence (UK), The Glacier, La Piccioletta Barca, Ravensperch and other journals. She is the author of “Wandering,” which was a Minerva Rising finalist and selected for publication by Finishing Line Press (January 2024). Her poetry was included on the short list for the 2023 Oxford Poetry prize. She has been supported by the Community of Writers and the Kenyon Review Novel Workshop.