World Poetry Day: You Who The Earth Was For by Steffi Tad-y

Steffi Tad-y

This World Poetry Day, we’re serving a sneak peek from ROOM 46.1 Around the Table: Asian Voices.

___

You Who The Earth Was For
Steffi Tad-y

After Jean Valentine

You fleeing war, carrying a rooster with your shaky hand.
You trained to pummel, never the first to wince or flinch.

You who plant their sadness into the dirt.
You whose questions have no gentle answers.

You who cook too close to the stove.
You at the table, missing the one not there.

You whose loss comes with a wordlessness.
You beside the rubble, out to build again.

You in the backseat being loved.
You running towards the water.

___

Don’t forget to RSVP for the launch of ROOM 46.1 Around the Table: Asian Voices, taking place Sunday, March 26!

___

Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, Steffi Tad-y is a poet & writer based in the territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, & Tsleil-Waututh Nations, also known as Vancouver, British Columbia. Her chapbook of poems “Merienda” published by Rahila’s Ghost Press was nominated for the 2021 bpNichol Chapbook Award. In 2022, she published her debut book of poetry “From the Shoreline” with Gordon Hill Press. Steffi’s poems often reflect on kinship, diasporic geographies, & formations of the mind.

Tags: Around the Table | Asian Voices | Issue 46.1 | Poetry | World Poetry Day