the breath of relief
when you appeared
you,
you don’t know me
you only passed by
for a fleeting second,
but your presence soothed
all my inner anxieties,
the paranoia of
potential violence against me.
in a city whose streets were unfamiliar but
the stares & looks a reoccurring theme and
never too far behind.
while the clothes i wore didn’t matter
the patriarchal gaze said enough.
you,
my knight-in-shining armor
a momentary break in the swirl of fear and
safe-guarding…your,
wholly femme self breathed relief & life back
into my pounding heart.
hope wrapped in a millisecond
you passed.
i kept onward.
the moment broke, but the memory of the protection you poured over me
remains a priceless gift
that i hope another
offers you one day.
新年快樂 / happy lunar new year! if you haven’t heard of my latest artistic endeavors, i have been back in touch with 書法 (or chinese calligraphy) through workshops at Wing On Wo’s 店面 Storefront Residency this past Fall/Winter. it has been a newfound joy to struggle with writing characters i am not always sure of the meaning, but it has allowed a renewed connection with the legacy my 公公, 葉奕明 left behind. according to my cousin, 公公 spent his retirement mornings writing characters on newsprint. cheers to carrying on generational traditions. i hope this digging into old spaces will bring honor to my 葉/周家族 in this new year.
love, 以心
Snapshots from the past month:
january 2019 - street art in lisbon, portugal
february 2019 - chinese calligraphy by a jook sing