Rest HouseI stayed long in the shadow of the deadonly after I left,was goneto a place where the dead could beseen strollinga tight circle,preparingfor the phase of being dead that ischaracterized by reappearance.was there,the shell of your eggRest HouseA scattered peacelike netsthe old woman gathering rose-tasteto marryto ice creamAll around us, the breezecorpsesoverlappingto be welcomedto be giventhe refreshmentthat might stun [them]back intoexistence.Rest HouseThe woman in ground zerolays down in the grasslooks upinto the treesat the monochrome shapesof astrological hospiceThey’re not dead yetshe saysThe trees look downunapprovinglyAre there tiny balloons in the sky?People preparing to leap throughthe bottomlessbrainof their delicate wishes?nor will they lastlong enoughEvery time I see you you arein the grassor behind small glassreaching into the freezertoward a warm body
Three “Rest Houses”
Brandon Shimoda
Feature Date
- June 9, 2024
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Copyright © 2023 by Brandon Shimoda.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission.
Photo:
Scott Tsuchitani
Scott Tsuchitani
Brandon Shimoda is the author of several books of poetry and prose, most recently Hydra Medusa (Nightboat Books, 2023), and The Afterlife Is Letting Go (City Lights, 2024). He’s the co-editor, with Brynn Saito, of an anthology of poetry on Nikkei wartime incarceration written by descendants of the WWII prisons and camps (Haymarket Books, 2025).
Issue 11
New York City, New York
Editors:
Bennet Bergman
Kyle Dacuyan
Kay Gabriel
Isabel Boutiette.
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