Trap
written by: Shinsaku Ashida
I grew up
being told
that traps
are set all over the world,
and so I became
an adult
without confidence.
The rabbit
had learned
to understand the fear
of those who set the traps.
It had grown used
to humans.
And yet,
even on the familiar meadow,
it couldn’t run
straight ahead.
Though there were
no traps anymore,
the rabbit
still lived a life
always wary of them—
wishing this life
would pass by
quickly.
The rabbit
stares at the wind
blowing through the meadow.
Shinsaku Ashida is a Japanese poet whose work has appeared in Down in the Dirt, Neologism Poetry Journal, and Trondheim Poesi Café, as well as in over 130 newspapers, magazines, and literary festivals across Japan. He writes in both Japanese and English, often exploring themes of memory, mortality, and silence. His work has been accepted by the Academy of the Heart and Mind, and he has won several poetry awards. He believes in the power of poetry to bridge the personal and the political, and to speak to what often goes unspoken.
