The other morning, I read a thoughtful poem by my friend Kaila of A Poetic Nature, that woke a corner in me that’s been hibernating from winter to spring and on into summer without my realizing it. In Kaila’s post, she referred to a prompt from Jo of 𝚂𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚊𝚐𝚎, which I mistook as the title of Kaila’s poem- “The Sea at the end of the world“.
A thought sparked, and I hastily opened an ongoing document where I keep my typings, and followed the words as they flooded out all in one sitting, fingers dancing away on my mechanical keyboard with a satisfying staccato rhythm like tap shoes on wood.
It wasn’t until I’d finished and took a breath, that I returned to Kaila’s post, clicked through to familiarize myself with 𝚂𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚊𝚐𝚎 and take a look at her July Prompts (how lovely they are!). It was then that I discovered that Kaila’s title was absent from Jo’s list of July Prompts, and I realized it was actually Kaila’s poem title that had served as my prompt in one of life’s kismet of mix-ups. She had been prompted by Jo, and I had been prompted by her.
How sweet a thing to find that ideas have cascaded from one poet to the next, a gentle prompting that invited me to string words together, share them on. My thanks to both Kaila and Jo for the inspiration.
the waters at the end of the world
maybe they wait for us to notice
the countless divides hiding in plain sight
gradually tricking us into siding with silence
because it’s easier, less combative
when really, what’s needed is for us to be uncomfortable enough to changemaybe they wait for us to seek
something more important than our closest circles
loving a stranger, a far-off people
as much as we love whoever looks-thinks-sounds like us
because it’s easier to love what we already know
when really, love is always a choice and we can always choose itmaybe they wait for us to fall
into their cresting waves, crashing over crowns
knocking them off into exile where they sink
drench us in salt to burn away the arbitrary things
like dollars and status and unearned privilege-
no right to hold over another
because really, no one has more value than anyone else & when did we forget that?maybe they wait for us to submerge
into stillness … places so deep the light can’t reach
bidding us to quiet ourselves, listening instead
let the depths become the way we care
heartstrings bend and stretch and grow
to hold more and more fathoms
because really, there’s no time to waste and we must be quick about itmaybe the waters wait for us
-Kimberly Kuniko
Dream & Scheme Co-Working Sessions
(Alternating Tuesdays + Wednesdays, 10-11:30am PT)
Creativity Keepers Sessions
(2nd + 4th Tuesdays, 6-7pm PT)
Paper Embroidery Starburst Workshop
Sun., Sept. 27 • 1-2:45pm
Hosted live on Zoom
Hand-Stitched Mixed Media Collage
Nellita’s Craft, Little Tokyo, DTLA
Sat., 8/29 • 11am-1pm PT
Justice Sunbird Sticker Fundraiser // Raising funds for the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), a nonprofit organization providing aide in Palestine + support to Palestinian refugees. @unrwausa unrwausa.org
@jewishvoiceforpeace // jewishvoicesforpeace.org // Jews organizing toward Palestinian liberation and Judaism beyond Zionism
Ways to support Palestinian creatives, artists, writers, and companies + orgs with actions we can take
© Kimberly Kuniko
let’s connect // lacelit.com | @lacelit | creativity club + retreats | dream & scheme community for small business owners
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