The Return

Ghostly lemurs
populate the trees
of my once-perfect city.

Before,
there was only one leopard,
one tree,

and one nameless flower
blooming discreetly
in a corner.

There was all the time in the world
to make important decisions:

whom to love,
whom to leave,
whom to tell only half of my secrets.

Now the night is lit by a thousand lanterns.
It is hard to be lied to.

Copyright © 2008 Kate Lim All rights reserved
from Western Humanities Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission