letters from val

Letter from Kingston: The Hibiscus

July 27, 2011 by letters from val 8 Comments

Did you know that a hibiscus folds into itself at night? All of its radiant peach and red and gold wrapped around itself until the morning sun swoops in. I realized this morning at 1am, when I looked at the hibiscuses flanking my mother’s front door, that in New Jersey I was a closed hibiscus, and […]

Letter from Kingston: Home is Jamaica

July 18, 2011 by letters from val 5 Comments

There are simple questions in life: What’s your name? How old are you? Where do you live? Where are you from? However for me, these questions aren’t as simple as they appear at first glance, and I often find myself answering with hesitance. Scene 1 Person 1: How old are you? Me: You’re only as old […]

Moving On

July 10, 2011 by letters from val 9 Comments

…practice losing farther, losing faster: places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel. None of these will bring disaster. I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or next-to-last, of three beloved houses went. The art of losing isn’t hard to master. I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, some […]