Bamboo Sketches

by Charity Lee Jennings

A Star-Filled Sky

I've told you the stories   I’ve told you the stories, how our oldest couldn’t renew his visa, how our boys left home, how we followed not long after. How our life was turned upside-down.  I’ve told of the sadness of saying good-bye. Of the weight of grief that...

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A World Away

A World Away

Their healing scent has filled these lands for a hundred years.    As I reach the bridge, they’re in full view. Rows of massive eucalyptus trees following each side of River Pan Long far into the distance. Leaves and pods litter the path that lines the...

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Liberation Tower

Liberation Tower

“I heard back from the Consulate,” I told Brian.    “Either the boys or one of us needs to be there in person, since they’re switching from child to adult passports.” “What! Travel to another province? With all that’s going on with Covid?”  “I know! I don’t...

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A Promise To Myself

A Promise To Myself

It's lockdowns and stay-cations and heartache.     My family is on the other side of the world, and friends, who were once neighbours, are scattered around the globe unable to return to the place they call home.  It felt strange to bring in a new year with...

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My Nest

My Nest

Weaving Grass, bits, leaves, twigs A home in high branches Life under wing, vulnerable Yet safe  Pressing Pause  I’m removed from nature in our ninth floor apartment, our nest in the sky, yet as I wrote I heard chirping. I rushed to the window. Three...

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Open Highway

Open Highway

Trapped!   Between the busyness of life and the Covid crisis, it had been nearly a year since I’d been on open highway, leaving city life behind. With parks closed and roads closed and apartment living, for months I felt trapped. My walks by the river were my...

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One Who Gives

One Who Gives

It wasn’t until I started painting the flowers that my mind turned to the fragility of life.  I knew I needed to grieve. I’d been trying but being so far from family I couldn’t get to that place. But now, as I pushed my brush against the canvas to create leaves...

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A Covid-19 Creation

A Covid-19 Creation

Birds & Bare Branches  Looking out the window we saw birds dancing over bare branches and our conversation turned to Brian’s grandpa and his love for birds and flowers. As a child, Brian explored his grandpa’s backyard garden with wonder. He speaks of his...

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New Fish, New Year

New Fish, New Year

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are." Bernice Johnson Reagon Our fish tank has life again. The past year and a half it sat empty. It was Brian’s hobby, and Blossom happily joined in, choosing fish,...

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