Chasing light like a bird,
skimming the tops
of a river at dusk,
hungry and hunting,
dipping its claws
into the barely visible
moment.
Searching for light
is not as clean
as a minnow slicing a path through water,
tapping out its morse code to the world,
but it’s as natural
as its death,
plucked in a moment and gone
not forever.
So far, the one
perfect light
I’ve caught
is that we are alive
and then we are not.
And the in-between
overflows its bookends.
Colleen Kam Siu explores themes of ontology, identity, and transformation with poetry, visual art, and humor. Her work has appeared in the Evening Street Review, POETiCA Review, Fahmidan Journal, Witches Mag, and Cider Press Review. She has written extensively on the topic of death and dying for the online magazine, SevenPonds. Her chapbook of poetry and paintings, Elements of Being, will be available Fall of 2022.