Global Haiku • Fall 2023
Dr. Randy Brooks

Everything Stays Changing

by
Sky Choe

Author's Introduction

When trying to determine the title for this collection, I wanted something that was a little paradoxical while still explaining a truthful statement; a title that invokes strong feeling or associations in the reader’s mind. The haiku my title comes from (which is also my signature haiku) does just that, and serves as an all-encompassing means of tying my haiku together though their differences in theme, tone, subject matter, and the conclusions that readers can draw from them. The only constant in our world is that nothing stays the same forever – we are ever changing, and how joyful, how relieving it is to eb human and know that I will not be the same person in 10 years, 10 months, or even 10 hours. Change is good, whether we know it or not, and that is how I sought to write my haiku; always changing and always different.
 
Reader’s Introduction

“In exploring Choe’s collection, there is a variety of topics. However, there is most definitely a continuity of visual inflicting writing. With uncanny attention to detail that can paint every last detail in your imagination to the tiniest brushstroke, Choe’s imagery is so well accomplished sometimes it can invoke feelings of discomfort. Describing grotesque pictures in a beautiful way is challenging but if one can do it, it’s Sky Choe.” – Bella Birdsley

beneath her lashes
a constellation
of tears

thunder thighs, they sneered
as I trace the silvery lightning
on my skin

green toothbrush
in my cup
for when she stays the night

addressed and stamped
a love letter travels
to the junk drawer

worming inside
pull the skin over
to keep warm

empty studios
retracing the footsteps of
the ghosts of Kirkland

moseying about the campus
yet everything stays
changing.

if there are five stages
how come all I’ve felt is
relief

hiding my chest
under a baggy shirt
they’re none the wiser

starving families
dying kinds
I can’t charge me phone

at the end of the world
I’m glad it’s
with you.

empty booth
I still order
your hash-brown skillet