I lead you up terraced slopes

                until we see clear to Hing Hay Park
              
              

                down Maynard Street, rattling

                off the annals of Uncle Bob
              
              

                how he leased the land

                beneath our feet to feed
              
              

                the elders, create 

                a thriving ecosystem where
              
              

                there had only been neglect,

                a plot of land covered in trash
              
              

                & shattered glass restored to

                life-giving beds of vegetables
              
              

                through a shared belief in change,

                fallen now into decay rain-soaked
              
              

                winter leaves rotting underfoot,

                the reports of sex trafficking
              
              

                in massage parlors down the way 

                replete with unhappy endings,
              
              

                you startle me from remoteness

                when you pull me close, to quiet
              
              

                speech, our tongues entwined in

                some scattering of verdancy come alive
              
              

                Shin Yu Pai is Poet in Residence for September.

Previously:
                white savior industrial complex, and Chiang-Kai Shek Boneyard.

Shin
                Yu Pai will be appearing on September 22nd at
                the Black Dog Cafe in Snoqualmie.