Five-Poems-by-June-Kino-Cullen-5

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Screens by FR Dane 2011

June Kino Cullen

Lift Me Close

A typhoon alert.
There will be no school today.
No bullies to pull my hair,
no scowls from the teacher.
I run to the front window,
watch waves rise dark, slam
against jagged boulders.

A black branch snaps, flies away.
Daddy left hours ago.
He won’t hit Mother today.
Good smells waft from the kitchen.
Rain pelts against the roof.
I play on the floor, hum a tune.
The storm has come to rescue me.

 

—♦—

Artist's Statement
I am the daughter of a Japanese war bride and a US Army soldier. I lived in post-war Japan until my mother and I eventually immigrated to the United States when I was nine years old. My memories from those years living in Japan inform my writing as do the stories told to me by family and friends.
 —June Kino Cullen
June Kino Cullen emigrated from Yokohama, Japan, in 1959. She is the author of numerous poems and short stories. Three of her short stories were adapted into plays, which were performed at the Aratani Japan America Theater in Los Angeles. She is currently working on her memoir. Her works have been published in Spectrum, Adelaide Magazine, Fresh Ink and others. She resides in Claremont, California, with her son, Patrick, and her husband, John.

 

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