4,325 miles between us
this is how I’ll fold up
the world to see you again
I’ll take one corner
from somewhere in china
a piece of beijing cardboard
where a child has drawn
the names of his family in
bold, black characters that
look like tiny
works of art
I’ll take a sheet of
looseleaf paper
from an intuit boy
who writes his alphabet
and his history
over and over
so no one will forget
Then I’ll grab
a piece of market cloth
from soweto
that an elder
stamped with
silhouette shadows
of the warriors
who turned to stone so
the country could be still
and listen to itself
Lastly,
I’ll take
a sheet of ice
from greenland
where some ancient
conquerer trapped
the moon and the sun
and inbetween them
scribbled that this
was a day
I’ll fold them into
themselves and
make a small packet
where time and space
and distance are gone
and all that remains
is you and me
at the center
kissing hello
Leslie Dianne is a poet, novelist, screenwriter, playwright and performer. Her work has been acclaimed internationally at the Harrogate Fringe Festival in Great Britain, The International Arts Festival in Tuscany, Italy and at La Mama in NYC. Her poems appear in Kairos Ghost City Review, In Parentheses and elsewhere.
Featured Image by Elena Mozhvilo