CANTON EQUINOX
Irisa Kwok
To Dreamers - 香港加油！
I spent my youth
picking raspberries in a red dress
one for each finger, and an extra to kiss
and stain my lips.
The sun never quite reached the heights
we needed, but that doesn’t matter
now the sea smells of peat
and shadows means protection
keep marching forward,
and maybe then the dreams we speak of
will not shroud us in fear,
leaving us free to race through the streets marvelling,
but keep applying pressure, stave off
the blood, the little Tiber between my fingers
mixing with the milky tears of industrial sorrow
These are the last days of youth
under a Great Dragon’s Eye
my hand is pulled away from the musician's
flowering abdomen, fist unfolding —
a palmful of raspberries, crushed, red, sour.
Don’t look up, my darling.
Spring will never come.
Irisa Kwok grew up in Hong Kong and attends Cambridge University reading English Literature. As well as being a lifelong lover of creating beauty, she is an active member of the LGBT+ community and a mental health advocate. After university, they hope to immerse themselves in the performing arts industry while continuing to publish their written works.
In my home, I do not have a room, so I've claimed this little balcony as my writing space. Very poorly insulated, but I tell myself it's just emulating Keats!
I am a tech grandma so I write everything down with my doctor's handwriting - you wouldn't believe how many stupid things are written in these notebooks!