on another shore, or because true autumn has begun

by Steven O. Young Jr.

Before it all gets wiped away, let me say,^A
I can’t remember the tale,^B
all of it, to the heart.^C

Hold the peach, try the weight, sweetness^D
to carry within us an orchard, to eat^E
beside her, waking with her hair in my mouth.^F

She sits at the foot of the bed.^G
The sound of rain^H
the terror of diving through air, and^I
of bone-growth, or body-death, marriages of rust,^J
like a saint dying upside down.^K
I’d like to tear these petals with my teeth.^L

The garden is bare now, the ground is cold,^M
one part soil, two parts root, and all the filaments of rain.^N
We shall eat it with rice for lunch,^O
then rock back, and fill with more.^P

Am I stricken by memory or forgetfulness?^Q
It is a depthless hour of sweetest sleep^R
who embraces her sister, kisses her^S
trailing hair in each stage of its unbraiding.^R
I want to be broken,^U
bend down to her, like a mirror, and kiss her face.^V

Even when it’s painful, memory is sweet.^W
What survives best are chrysanthemums^X
of a world about to come, and a world about to go.^Y

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Cento composed from Li-Young Lee’s Rose (New York: BOA, 1986). Each line is presented as found in Lee’s
book, with each sequential poem providing a single line. The sources are as follows:

Title: “Ash, Snow, or Moonlight”
A: “Epistle” B: “The Gift” C: “Persimmons” D: “The Weight of Sweetness” E: “From Blossoms” F: “Dreaming of
Hair” G: “Early in the Morning” H: “Water” I: “Falling: The Code” J: “Nocturne” K: “My Indigo” L: “Irises”
M: “Eating Alone” N: “Always a Rose” O: “Eating Together” P: “I Ask My Mother to Sing” Q: “Ash, Snow, or
Moonlight” R: “The Life” S: “The Weepers” T: “Braiding” U: “Rain Diary” V: “My Sleeping Loved Ones”
W: “Mnemonic” X: “Between Seasons” Y: “Visions and Interpretations”

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Steven O. Young Jr. is knitted within the Great Lakes' mitten, where he earned an MA from Oakland University and occasionally slathers soundstages with his body weight's worth of paint. His latest literary homes include Sweet Lit, Shot Glass Journal, Ignatian, Reunion: The Dallas Review, and Progenitor.