DEATH Poem: What we Miss, by Mae Hayashi

I miss you, stars.
Do you miss me?

The flowers are dead–
I hear them crying
and I wear their faces
on my dress

Maybe one day
these hands of mine
that hold this pen and ache
will disentomb
the ruined, empty soil
and long for the days
that you were here

What is your name?

I know nothing about you,
my ancestors
who lived and breathed and laughed
like I do
and died long ago
like I will

Who are you?

I miss you.

Do you miss me?

Someday I will be nameless–
a faceless specter at the edge
of someone else’s lineage
and they will wonder
“Who are you?”

and they will miss me

and I will not have known them