Issue 25 | Fall 2021

shelf life

Shin Yu Pai

for Bob Redmond

when my son’s cough

lingers, I feed him spoonfuls

of honey bought from the market;

his mouth & eyes opened wide

his gaze lingering on the amber filled

glass upon the shelf, unopened

too dear to consume, nectar

made from the labor of ten

thousand drones in the backyard

of the watercolorist in West Seattle

the hive built by the haiku poet,

my friend who outlived colon cancer,

let this sweetness outlast us

all, be its own inheritance

About the Author

Shin Yu Pai is a poet, essayist, and visual artist. She is the author of several books of poetry, including Virga (Empty Bowl, 2021), Ensō (Entre Ríos Books, 2020), Sightings (1913 Press, 2007), Aux Arcs (La Alameda, 2013), Adamantine (White Pine, 2010), and Equivalence (La Alameda, 2003). She served as the fourth poet laureate of the city of Redmond from 2015 to 2017 and has been an artist in residence for the Seattle Art Museum and Pacific Science Center. Her poetry films have screened at the Zebra Poetry Festival and the Northwest Film Forum. Her personal essays have appeared in Zocalo Public Square, Tricycle, Atlas Obscura, Seattle Met, CityArts, and YES! Magazine. She lives and works in the Pacific Northwest where she serves as program director for Town Hall.