Two Poems by Cynthia Dewi Oka (poetry ’19)

You Don’t Have to Be Tough All by Yourself, You Said

and if I returned the favor, it was much later. Or
I lied. At the airport, waiting for my turn to sleep. Like a leg
bone inside a grasshopper. In the selfie I sent, darkness

curtains one side of my head which hasn’t thought
of Christopher for years. Aside from his occasional Facebook
posts captioned #blessed below boys in blue

jerseys #despite the Canucks’ losing streak. The Rockies
look photoshopped, but not the beetlelike sacs
under his mother’s eyes. All seasons, petals by a jacuzzi. Cherry-

flavored hospital jellos on the lid of the grill. Unless
they’re margaritas, O, winking emoji #FUCKCANCERGOCHEMO!
I should’ve sent his mother a letter. Something about that year

[…continue reading “You Don’t have to Be Tough All by Yourself, You Said” and find “Zuihitsu with Love for the Moon’s Failed Rebellion” at Scoundrel Time. You can also find Cynthia Dewi Oka’s writing on Aracelis Girmay’s “Arroz Poetica” at Poetry Daily as well as another poem, “Meditation on the Worth of Anything,” at Tupelo Quarterly.]