Dru Philippou
Essentials
We sort through her clothing, much of it never worn, some with price tags still attached. Her boots and slippers, flats and heels spill out of the walk-in closet. They’re adorned with bows, with ribbons that wrap round the ankle, and even a stained-glass motif from Beauty and the Beast. Her American husband, born in Shanghai, explains that his wife didn’t have much as a child. But now her drawers are crammed with watches and costume jewelry, with dozens of beaded sequin purses in glittering gold, silver, and black, with opera glasses to match. Her luggage crowds his side of the closet: hard and soft sides, two-wheelers and spinners, suitcases and backpacks. On the top shelves, we find blue-winged Kewpie dolls, wrapped in the original tissue paper. In the bedroom, he reveals a carved red cinnabar lacquer snuff bottle, which he’d bought for her in China, and a hand-embroidered gown, a wedding gift from his godmother, Ai Ling Soong. Irreplaceable.
tea grows cold. . . he tells me again how they first met
About the Author
Born on the island of Cyprus, Dru Philippou was raised in London, and currently lives in northern New Mexico, where hiking in the desert wilderness nourishes her spirit and her writing. Her haibun “Afterlife” won first place in the Haiku Society of America’s 2021 Haibun Awards competition. She is the author of A Place to Land, a tanka prose memoir.