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- Sidewalk Cruiseship
Written by the "pandemic poet laureate" of Albuquerque, Sidewalk Cruiseship draws on Oishi's remarkable ability to illustrate the world around her and the people in it. Separated into eleven short sections by traditional Japanese tankas, the poems in Oishi's newest collection take on the macro and the micro. They respond to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the contentious political climate as they draw readers in to witness intimate moments of people and scenes within Oishi's beloved city of Albuquerque. The poems explore such themes as mental illness, the joys and sorrows of motherhood, what it is to be a woman in the world, and aging and death. Readers will come away with a better sense of Albuquerque and its inhabitants and will get an intimate look at one of its most passionate citizens--a Japanese American longtime justice activist and mentor for queer youth who embraces the best and worst Albuquerque has to offer. Throughout it all, she reminds us that the best response we can offer is love, even in the face of adversity.
Mary Oishi is the author of Spirit Birds They Told Me, the coauthor of Rock Paper Scissors, and the editor of One Albuquerque, One Hundred Poets. She served as Albuquerque Poet Laureate from 2020 to 2022.
Galaxy Albuquerque
tanka #1
predawn sorority
eight hundred feet, ten thousand years
because shame
sidewalk cruiseship
high spark of low-heeled
letter to myself before
strength and mercy
tanka #2
ghost town
pandemic notice
John Prine in ICU
we must stay apart
bad news in a pandemic
tanka #3
self-care
when i sing of seeds
i beg your pardon
today not one bird
i swear plenty but
Because Holidays
tanka #4
Albuquerque animals
petals and rocks
for Wanda Cooper-Jones
dis-illusions
prophesy
tanka #5
between children
response to Vairochana Teaching (Patrick Nagatani)
morning moon hanging
it's Easter Eve but
when we can hug again
tanka #6
One Song
who saw me?
kind and distant / green and glass
choice
creation story retold
taps for Afghanistan
plea to a bomb
tanka #7
for Susan
a place for sorrow
desert life
tanka #8
Easter morning
last visit
diagnosis: syncope
i thought i saw a monkey
back to the present
tanka #9
the crone in my young vision
lanterns in darkness
Acknowledgments