TheNewVerse.News : SILENCE AFTER THE MAUI FIRE

Friday, August 25, 2023

SILENCE AFTER THE MAUI FIRE

by Christian Hanz Lozada

I deconstruct the “Santa’s Village” Lego set
and the house has been quiet all day

while Hawaiian Uncle with stage 4 lungs watches the news
and the house has been quiet all day

the county asks family of the missing to submit DNA to match ashen remains
and the house has been quiet all day

after the fire Hawaiian Uncle escaped by sleeping on the shore
and the house has been quiet all day

and by crossing an ocean and by needing his niece’s husband to clean his ass
and the house has been quiet all day

long enough for health insurance ones and zeroes to change Hawaii to America
and the house has been quiet all day

Christian Hanz Lozada (he/him) is the son of an immigrant Filipino and a descendent of the Southern Confederacy. He knows the shape of hope and exclusion. He authored the poetry collection He’s a Color, Until He’s Not (2023) and co-authored Leave with More Than You Came With (2019). His poems have appeared in Hawaii Pacific Review (Pushcart Nominee), Bamboo Ridge Press, 34 Orchard, Mud Season Review, among others. Christian has featured at the Autry Museum and Beyond Baroque. He lives in San Pedro, CA and uses his MFA to teach his neighbors and their kids at Los Angeles Harbor College.

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Friday, August 25, 2023

SILENCE AFTER THE MAUI FIRE