I recently received my contributor’s copy of the anthology desde Hong Kong and have been enjoying dipping into the collection of great tributes. One in particular stood out in my reading. I share it below to further celebrate this anthology’s publication.
In “Going Home,” British-Canadian poet Phoebe Tsang delves deep into an image (a la Paz) and has the subject matter, and the reader, come out different on the other side.
Going Home – Phoebe Tsang
At dawn, the carts glistened with wet scales
as if the fish were still alive,
not drowning for lack of water.
They slept just like the rest of us,
breathed city air.
As the sun rose, the glitter faded from their gills.
By noon, the last dregs were fins and bones
kicked to the gutter,
entrails slick under fishermen’s boots.
The fishermen gone home,
back to the sea.
***
Happy homing!
Jose
p.s. Information on ordering a copy of the anthology can be found here.
This poem does a lot of work in just eleven lines. Profound. Thanks for sharing this. I also appreciate the introduction to this anthology.
Agreed – whole lives pass through the images! Glad you liked it, Andrea.
Ameen.