Shin Yu Pai

Spring Peepers, Summer Flowering

                        invisible singers

                                                                        awaken from winter

slumber under logs,

                                    loose bark

at the edge                                           of bodies

                                                                                               of water

                                    sounding courtship songs

                                                                       my father and I

                                    share a memory of

                                                                       staying awake to witness

the night-blooming cereus

                                                white queen flower

                                    a balm for the heart

                                                                                   blooms in the backyard

                                                             just once before withering