a sidewalk family
Flo shares a new poem, “a sidewalk family” inspired by a visit from Ed’s grandniece, Erin Fieldings and her husband, George, who came to Sunnyvale with their toddler, Myka, and two week-old son, Elias. “Our pièce de résistance was a sidewalk family art work with Myka making her loving marks with Peter (Flo’s grandson) and ‘a little bit from me.'”
a sidewalk family
1.
when bluish sky
knits into cusp
of evening
in early spring
she
a smiling
toddler
red chalk
in her hand
looks at
sidewalk canvas.
2.
Dragging red marks
to dance over
bumpy surfaces
her thin lines curl
into her blossoming
heart.
3.
her eyes
glow
she scribbles
pencil-thin lines
then elephant
in remote savanna
erupts from her mother’s
distant cousin
4.
choosing
a pinkish chalk
she
scratches
several toes
onto elephant’s
left hind leg
5.
circling her
her family members
use greenish
yellowish chalk
they draw
in celebration
family-together art
6.
her two-week baby
brother cradles
in their father’s
embrace
their mother’s
affection
her distant cousin’s
sketches
her big sister’s love
5.
Her mother’s
great aunt
sits on a chair
gripping a wooden
walking stick
her loosely-made marks
join
the family-sidewalk canvas
her fractured ribs
healing
with each stroke
of powdery chalk
6.
at that moment
they
the sidewalk artists
she
the toddler artist
pearl into
a sidewalk family
Flo Oy Wong
March 25. 2026
March 27, 2026
