worm moon
you don’t like worms and i don’t like love poems.
so if i said this was a love poem about a worm, you
& i wouldn’t read past this line for any reason other
than i’m bored, let’s see what comes next in the worm
moon poem. in this poem, the worm is eating the moon,
whom she loves, & the moon happens to be a doughnut.
the moon is filled with chocolate. the worm takes bite after
tiny bite & keeps eating even past the point when she is full.
who is fuller, the moon uneaten or the worm filled with moon?
worm leaves a tiny bit of doughnut moon leftover before
wiggling away into the earth. even though the moon will
eventually leave her, she will always come back for more.
i want to ask you after you read this poem, if you read this
poem if you still don’t like worms. i’m more or less okay with love
poems now (not shakespeare). why don’t we talk about it over doughnuts.
Hikari Leilani Miya is an LGBTQ Japanese-Filipina American who graduated from Cornell University in 2019 with a BA in English, and from University of San Francisco with an MFA in Creative Writing. She is a scholarship-awarded student in Florida State University's PhD program in creative writing, where she is a member of the Asian American Student Union and Vice President of the university's first Herpetology Club. Her poems have been published or are forthcoming in dozens of in-print and online magazines across North America, including MacGuffin, Chestnut Review, Eunoia Review, Broadkill Review, and Brave Voices. In 2021, she was a semi-finalist for the Red Wheelbarrow poetry prize judged by Mark Doty. Her first book of poems is forthcoming via Cornerstone Press in February, 2024. She currently lives in Tallahassee with her snakes, leopard gecko, and disabled cat, and volunteers at the Tallahassee Museum specializing in reptile care and handling. In addition to earning her master's certification in herpetology from the Amphibian Foundation and certification in husbandry and captive management, she is a former health care worker, percussionist, pianist, and competitive card game player.