This poem was originally published in Issue 6 of Tiger Leaping Review, on September 24th, 2025. This particular issue is filled with wonderful stories and poetry, from writers around the world. You can view it on their website here.
this poem is a glass of water & a water check. hydrate or diedrate, as the poets say. this poem is a hug when you need it most, given by one you didn’t know you needed it from & one you wanted most of all. this poem is poetry; the ones you write, the ones you don’t, the ones that your loved ones share & the community it creates. this poem is the smell of flowers lingering from your mom’s weekly self-gifted bouquet, in the arrangement your daughter makes for you, at your first stop in the grocery store. you breathe it in, you ask your beloved to do the same. this poem is comfort; potatoes & pastries & pot pies & potlucks, found in the company of the loved ones that we keep. light at the tips of the mountains that surround us. sierra that turns sky into pastels, poised between valley & sea. because home means nevada, home means the hills, home means the sage & the pine. this poem is laughter; because it really is the best medicine, my son possesses an adorable variant of krusty the klown, at someone’s dusty ass son, yelling get her ass! banshee screaming with my unhinged besties, until i’m crying, holding my sides. this poem is rain; the drops that fall on your head, doesn’t mean your eyes will soon be turning red. crying is for you, it always has been. catharsis in cloudbursts of desert sky, monsoons bring back memories, worries saved for another day. this poem is music to my ears, singalongs & random songs. this is our cinema & you said never let it go. i need you, you need me, stay.
