Full Cicada Moon

“I have never flown before / but one day / I / will // soar.”

After dreaming she is flying in her hatsuyume, Mimi decides not to share her dream with anyone just in case it is good luck. Though Mimi hasn’t flown, both literally and metaphorically, she has decided to one day soar—to reach for the stars and achieve her dreams. The placement of the last lines creates the visual effect of flying. 

“I remember / Papa said / if you leave eggs under a waxing moon, / all your chicks will hatch. / And Mama said / if you make a wish on the moon / over your shoulder, / it will come true. / I whisper / to the moon on my shoulder: / ‘I wish / all my dreams will hatch.’” 

Mimi takes the advice of bother her parents and merges them together. In the same way, she is both her mother and her father—a mixture of both their cultures and identities.

“‘Just remember,’ he says, / ‘be kind, be respectful, and persist.’ / ‘Like raindrops on granite,’ I say, / because we know that’s how I persist— / drip, drip, drip / until the granite cracks.”

Mimi’s father teaches Mimi that slow, steady persistence is the key to lasting change. This metaphor is repeatedly referred to as Mimi thinks about how she must be respectful, kind, and persist if she hopes to make a difference.