Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Yuan Changming Endeavors In The Most Mindful Moment, An Extra Year Of Satan, And A Jade Philosopher's Stone

Into the Reality


You see, here’s the leaf dyed with the full

Spectrum of autumn; here’s the dewdrop

Containing all the dreams made on the

Darkest corner of last night; here’s the

Light pole in the forest where gods land

From another higher world; here’s the swirl

You can dance with to release all your

Emotional intensity. Here you are in

Deed as in need embracing

The most

Mindful moment, when you can readily

Measure your feel with each breath, but do

Not think about time, which is nothing but

A pure human invention. Just point every

Synapse of yours to this locale. Here is now 



Features; for Hengxiang Liao


Not coincidentally, I have met many a person

With a strong appearance of a lower species

For instance, one school mate of mine carries

The features of a rabbit, another close relative

Those of a horse, a colleague of a familiar dog

An acquaintance of a hedgehog, a fifth of a

Snake, a sixth of a pig, a rooster, a rat, a water

Buffalo, a donkey, a goat or chimpanzee &

Each seems fated to fall within or without some

Chinese zodiac year

While my wife often

Looks like a nasty cat, she says my face oftener

shows all the hideousness of a demon, as if to re

Mind her like every other fellow human, I was

Born in an extra year of Satan though we were

All created equal in His image 



Lover’s Stone for a Shadow Wife: for Qi Hong


1/ Jinzhou, October 7, 2021


After celebrating your father’s birthday, you

Went out of your way to see my mother in

Jinzhou as my shadow wife rather than in

Any other dubious capacity. Though you

stayed there for 15 minutes only, you left a

Handsome red envelop containing all the

Filialness of a Confucian son on my behalf

Indeed, I may not survive the Pandemic, nor

Might she hold long enough for me to cross

The Pacific, but your special visit has given

Her the best comfort from a daughter-in-law

She felt sorry she did not take a photo with

You, but I assured her to commemorate the

Meeting in a poem in a foreign language


2/ Zhuhai, October 7, 2021


No, no, no, you should not have had a thief’s

Conscience when you went to see my mother

On my behalf, for a heart-stealer is no thief

To begin with

As for the gift of a big stamp

Jade, it was given not to you alone, but to both

Of us, which you can cut into two, one to

Carve into an artist’s seal for you, the other

A poet’s signature for me. More important

From the same piece of jade, they are one

And the same, if put back together

Like a philosopher’s stone



YUAN CHANGMING grew up in a remote village, started to learn the English alphabet in Shanghai at age 19 & published monographs on translation before leaving China. With a Canadian PhD in English, Yuan currently lives in Vancouver, where he has worked as a tutor, translator & publisher. Credits include 11 Pushcart nominations, 10 chapbooks, Best of the Best Canadian Poetry: Tenth Anniversary Edition, Best New Poems Online and appearances in more than 1800 literary outlets across 46 countries. Additionally, Yuan served on the Jury for Canada's 44th National Magazine Awards (poetry category).