Marisa Lin

Marisa Lin is a daughter of immigrants and Minnesota native. She is a 2023 Poetry Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Arts Research Center, with work in Poetry South, Lucky Jefferson, Porter House Review, The Racket, and elsewhere. Her chapbook, Dream Elevator, will be published in 2024 by Kernpunkt Press.

After the Blizzard

It’s time, Dad says as he hands me a shovel.

Together, we push snow to the banks of the driveway,

me scraping the trails he leaves behind. We clear

the concrete while sweat collects under our scarves.

We labor until heat and cold become one, so fused we feel

nothing. We shovel until sky brightens, gutters glow,

white mounds melt into earth. Together, we work

in winter’s warmth, unsure of who is doing more — us

or the sun — but knowing that each weight lifted, set down

will disappear.

Read Marisa’s work and more in Solum Journal Winter 2022.