Iris Lee

Where I Come From

There are shore people and forest people. Shore people know a long, bright vista, forest people a dense shade. Shore people feel the sun drying salt on their shivering flesh as they emerge from the buoyant ocean. Forest people hear tiny sounds, cracklings and fallings, emanating from weighty trees or a thick darkness underfoot. They hear the swish and trickle of slender streams. Shore people hear the clatter of waves over pebbles retreating back to their depths. Shore people see everything. Forest people see sun glitter through branches, bark on bark. I have always been a shore person. Sometimes I wish I were a forest person—for the coolness and the shelter. But I am steeped in sand and tide and will not change.

fugitive sound
shriek of a gull
or coo of a dove?

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About the Author

Iris Lee’s book of poems, Urban Bird Life, was published by NY Quarterly Books in 2010. She has also published work in Haibun Today, Epiphany, and The New York Times, among other venues. A Brooklyn native, Iris ran a writing workshop for theater professionals at The Actors Fund in New York City for many years.

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