Paper boats conjure dreams

of petals soaked by

scents of the

ocean.

 

Traveling boats

float in shadows

people

who have a simple hope

for happy lands,

 

but white markers sink

in sandy earth

marking graves of people

who cannot resist new germs.

 

‘Once watched paper boats,’

paternal grandfather says

in Vietnamese

but nobody understands

 

No translators here.

 

So shadow puppets dance

for petals

falling from kumquat boughs.

 

(c) June Perkins

https://ripplepoetry.files.wordpress.com/2018/04/paperboat.jpg

Creative Commons Flickr Geson Ratnow