“Pine” is a beautiful example of the work of the award-winning poet Kimiko Hahn and reflects her mixed cultural Japanese American background. The poem is as delicate and subtle as a Japanese painting. It is as sensual as Hahn's own favorite literature, the poetry of Japanese women of the Heian era court, and it is as accessible as any modern American narrative poem. With just the right number of allusions and images, Hahn gently taps her audience on their shoulders and encourages them (as well as her fictitious student audience) to work harder, to dig deeper into their souls in order to tap a creative source that not only will help them understand their emotions but also will assist them in creating a piece of work that will move their future as readers. It is a poem about writing poetry as well as a poem of sensual delights.

Hahn's poem was published in 1999 in her collection Mosquito and Ant. The title of this book refers to a form of writing used long ago by Asian women. Hahn's writing is also influenced by the traditional Japanese poetry called tanka—a system used by Japanese women in ancient times to relate their emotions to one another, usually following an evening encounter with their lovers.

In “Pine,” Hahn uses the title word in two ways. In indicating a pine tree, a popular symbol in Japanese literature, culture, and lore, Hahn makes reference to strength and endurance, encouraging her audience to suffer through the hardships they may encounter as they struggle to write poetry and to draw on those challenges to bring their inner feelings to full light. But she also uses “pine” in another way, a more American manner. In the English language, “pine” can be a verb. To pine for something is to long for it, to sulk, to brood. In other words, the subject of this poem is the emotions. The speaker of the poem wants to feel emotions, and she encourages young poets in the poem's last line: “So prick my skin.”