exile

oh daughter of mine

there will come

a day when you

must make

that fateful journey

away from home

after the night of broken glass

your parents will vanish

the world will shatter

and you must flee

go then

to find the iris

of a dragon’s eye

you’ll find

a garden

under the churn

of blue water

where the stars

of a lost constellation

lie in slumber

mountains of clouds

black columns

of shimmering stone

hover around

the scales 

of this sleeping giant

you will feel

the movement

of waves in air

and water

quietly bob along

until you find

the oldest star

let it carry you

to the farthest shore

where the light

is never extinguished

and birds sing

in the tallest trees

Alan Chong Lau

Alan Chong Lau is a poet and visual artist based in Seattle, Washington. He serves as Arts Editor for the International Examiner, a community newspaper. As a visual artist, he is represented by ArtXchange Gallery in Seattle, Washington.

John Levy is a poet and photographer. His most recent book of poetry, “Silence Like Another Name,” was published by Otata’s Bookshelf. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Alan Chong Lau and John Levy have published three volumes of a poetry and photography collaboration that can be found by searching online for “eye2word.”