Arabesque No. 1 by Lillian Kwok
Editorial intern Brian Czyzyk on today's bonus poem: Delicate and magical, Lillian Kwok’s poem “Arabesque” begins with birds, and dances through fantastic images of the natural world. Here unfolds a world where birds reach toward the heavens with their feet, and where their grace transforms them into gods in the eyes of watching fish.
Arabesque No. 1
At the lake we begin like birds, sitting on the water cross-legged. Until our hearts grow bolder and we walk on water. Start to run to the far shore. To the fishes, we are their greatest miracle, our feet above them an incomprehensible act and yes, they believe. You hold my foot in your hands, lift it to the sky. We will stay this way, our most perfect selves, for as long as we still are gods.
Lillian Kwok is originally from Philadelphia, and now lives in Honolulu. She has a chapbook published by Awst Press and one forthcoming from Dancing Girl Press. Her work has been published in the Waxwing, Cortland Review, Paper Darts, and other journals. She holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
