D

Death Dance

by Noriko Nakada

Death crawled over me like ants this year.
There were car accidents, illness, and war.
A young girl we knew passed suddenly.
I surrendered as the ants overwhelmed me.

There were car accidents, illness, and war.
Dia de Los Muertos arrived just in time.
I surrendered as the ants overwhelmed me.
Beneath blue skies and papel picado.

Dia de Los Muertos arrived just in time.
and children danced between light and shadow
beneath blue skies and papel picado.
The ants crawled back into cracks in the pavement.

Children danced between light and shadow.
A young girl we knew passed suddenly.
The ants crawled back into cracks in the pavement
after death crawled all over me this year.

Photo by Brannon Naito on Unsplash

Noriko Nakada

Noriko Nakada is a multi-racial Asian American who creates fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art to capture the stories she has been told not to talk about. She is the author of the Through Eyes Like Mine memoir series. Excerpts, essays, and poetry have been published in Hippocampus, Catapult, Linden Ave, and elsewhere.