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Madi's Poem

Writer's picture: Outdoor AsianOutdoor Asian

Dear Outdoor Asian family & friends,

Today, Madi Keaton shares a poem of sorrow and resilience - a reflection on family and their sacrifices of blood, sweat, & tears.

This week is immensely challenging for our community, yet it is our hope that this poem brings you some peace.

Please, pour yourself some tea and enjoy

Madi's Poem Tampopo ("Dandelion," from Japanese)




 

Tampopo

2:18 AM

10/27/2020


These days, I often mourn

the hedges arched by my blade

& gazebo beams trimmed

with empty hornet nests,

though I am still too timid to dip

my finger past the film that

blankets the nearby pond.


But I did face my fear of

climbing trees,

& when I surveyed the coneflowers

and cosmos gathered at my

feet, I wondered:

"Why mix your sweat with the

dirt for the sake of the

butterflies and birds?"

You see, I had Earth caked

beneath my fingernails because I

wanted the books that Mother

could not buy.

And, I suppose even now

I still labor for the sake of

beauty and coin.



Author's Note

The theme of this poem is the intersection of nature and poverty.

My grandmother is an immigrant from Okinawa, Japan. I spent most weekends of my childhood playing outside and her yard had very Japanese features - hedges cut into perfect shapes, a gazebo, a koi pond, Japanese maples, etc. It was here that I developed a great love for the outdoors. However, during the second half of the poem, I lament about growing up poor and destroying the earth in order to purchase the things that I wanted but could not have as a child (my family owns a pottery shop, so the "Earth" refers not just to the soil of the yard but the clay I dug up and used to make money as well). Working hard as a child to earn money and spending time outdoors turned into my career - I have a B.S. in Environmental Science and currently work in environmental justice/poverty policy and law. I love my work dearly and would not want to be doing anything else, but I long for the days where I would relax outside in my grandmother's yard (both in fear and awe of nature) before I had a concept of money and work."


Thank you,

Madi Keaton

@ladynoro on Instagram

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