finish line And Other Poems

By Heeseo Lee

finish line

sea to sky and sky to sea—
an interconnected system
of condensed entropy.
high to low and low to high,
energy flows wherever it may go,
cycling in a forevermore.

past under present,
future over the now—
time pulls forward in relentless ascent.

the earth spins, the skies rain,
and the stars burst aflame,
yet still we stand serene,
and waiting, patient, for the end.

cherry pits in summertime

spit in hail across the yard,
juice smeared like oil on palms
turned up to paste crimson
atop a drowning sun.

honeysuckle hues
darkened in shadow,
emblazoned in a field
spotted with a dozen poppies 
sprouting along the path.

the little girl with the riding hood,
stands in the meadow 
with her hair covered by a silken coat,
and totters unafraid
toward an inevitable demise.

such is the shade of 
deepest serenity&
boundless rage—
the touch of a summertime sadness 
begot by the glade.

repeat

wind blows stronger
through narrow alleys where the sun
does not shine, hands of cherry
blossom streaking across a world
painted white like snow.

sunlight turns periwinkle
trees into honey, golden ichor
of springtime’s veins seeping
life back into a sky with no clouds.

from across the yonder comes
the bird’s cry as it finds itself back home
in time for the peach trees to bud,
talons dragging the riverbed
with April rain.

listen, and hear all the worlds 
running under this one like an old record,
wrapped between the palms of time.

Heeseo Lee is an eleventh-grader attending Korea International School in Seoul, South Korea. She is currently putting together her writing portfolio and was recently accepted into the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio and the Kenyon Young Writers’ Workshop. In the past, she has attended both the Emerson Creative Writers Program and the Juniper Young Writers Institute. She has been published in various literary magazines in the past, and enjoys exploring fiction of all genres and poetry in her free time