Washi

Ryan E. Holman

Pull the paper at least three times:
Shake it back and forth the first,
Side to side the second,
Back and forth again the third.

Throw off the cold water;
Dry your new paper in the air.

This is how you make strong paper,
fragile-looking though it may be.

Dive into the dark pool,
Come up for air at least three times:
Shake off the water of the first,
Dive back in for a second,
Let it drip off of you the third.

Throw off the cold water;
Dry your new skin in the air.

This is how you make strong people,
fragile-looking though they may be.

 

 

 

Ryan Holman has previously had work appearing in the Silver Spring/Takoma Park Voice; Split This Rock's blog in their Call for Poems of Resistance, Power, & Resilience; and also speculative poetry venues recently. Ryan has also thrice been a featured poet in the Takoma Park Third Thursday poetry reading series (2007, 2008, and 2017), as chosen by the City of Takoma Park's sitting Poet Laureate.