Poetry By Melody Wang

       Paul Padshewscky CC



Those Endless Nights

Lao Lao's husband drove a train for work,
jaunty cap pulled low, tobacco offering
comfort on fever dream nights so thick
with a different kind of darkness, it was

nearly impossible to conjure up glimpses
of home, his family of wide-eyed children
grasping, always grasping, for tenderness
surely just beyond the smog-smeared jaws

of a city that would consume them all — 
too close to the edge, redemption stories
become elusive, often morphing into wild
cautionary tales of birds and men who, 

try as they might, are still taken too soon,
leaving their loved ones peering intently
into the same abyss that, all those starless
nights, held their father in its cold embrace

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Melody Wang currently resides in sunny Southern California with her dear husband and wishes it were autumn all year ‘round. Her debut collection of poetry "Night-blooming Cereus" was released in December 2021 with Alien Buddha Press, and her second collection of poetry "As the Light Permeates" is forthcoming with Lighted Lake Press. She can be found on Twitter @MelodyOfMusings or at her website https://linktr.ee/MelodyOfMusings