May Or Not: Easier Said Than Lived Life is really so meaningless You often say, which may Well be true, but they Allege death is even more so, while I would argue the meaning of life If any at all, is to make it meaningful, or To create one out of meaninglessness Calling on Mother’s Day: For Liu Yu I love the way you address me, Mom Ming er (or son ming), the only name You have used since I was a toddler In fact, you have never called me By my school name when I was A student, or even when I became A renowned teacher; nor did you Do so by my pen name after I won Nine nominations as a writer. No matter Whether it is before my family, my friends My fans or foes, you just call me Ming er, even though I am now almost A perfect grandpa in my own right Yes, I love the way you address me, Mom And please continue to address me exactly Like this, in the same way as any god or goddess Would call me, the one and the same name That reminds me of my selfhood My true being inside out Better to Break up: Birthday Advice to Allen because you deserve a truly fine or 'better' girl, because you need all the more to focus on your career development, because you two may probably have disparate underlying values, because even if you manage to save the relationship, she'd 'betray' you later, because (like her dad) she seems incapable of retaining a lifelong relationship, because she appears frivolous or not serious about you, love, sex & marriage, because her love for you is not concentrative and enduring enough, because such unstable pre-marriage relationship is not worth saving, because she cares significantly less about you than the other way around, because the more you try accommodating her, the more she is to be 'spoiled,' because she shows less honesty and loyalty than she ought to, because she is not intelligent enough at least in terms of academics, because her pretty face and figure (her only true 'value'?) depreciates soon, because her family lacking faithfulness, trust and commitment apparently affects her, because her-uncommitabilty doesn't deserve your deep or unconditional love, because it is a waste of time, effort and affection to go on dealing with her, because she may turn out too 'newer-minded', childish & willful for you, because her personality is stronger than you can comfortably cope with, because she is not a good or 'perfect' fit to you, because 'you can take the horse to water, but never make her drink', because it's better to suffer short-term pain now than long-term torture later, because bla bla bla… you’d best shut up! Don’t Miss Me, Son, Ever After I Die Don’t miss me, Son, ever after I die For as a son I know how you will sigh With mixed feelings when you recall The spot where I showed you the first sugar cane The moment when I took you to DLG Elementary The first time we hiked in Cypress Mt Park The first sightseeing tour we had (to Zhangjiajie) The cozy restaurant where we ate in Beijing The short poem I bribed you to write in grade ten The lectures I gave you about the dynamic Rebalancing of yin and yang… No, don’t Don’t miss me, Son, not ever after I die For I know how you will be getting high With sadness that can engulf and suffocate Your entire inner being when you recollect The broken pieces of my image, but think More about your son, about how you two Can enjoy being together at each supper time Eating dumplings, talking aloud, joking And laughing while you are still well and alive Don’t, just don’t miss me after I die, Son But keep thinking about your own son’s son While all of you are so very much well alive Tuning in with Liu Weijian: a he Poem So profoundly delighted am I In listening to your xiao music As it resonates with my inner voice That I could die here & now in comfort After finally finding my best audience Much like Bo Ya meeting with Ziqi As I Am Getting Newly Old, My Late Dad Mailed A Reminder to Me from High Above, Which Says Soon you can no longer see anything, anybody clearly Enough with or without your glass, even at a close range Some pain will bug you here at a joint, or there In an organ, and become part of your daily life Also, your lower leg skin will sometimes get so itchy You’d scratch them with a metal brush, or peel it off You can afford to eat whatever you dreamed of in the country But doctors will advise you to avoid any seafood, even meat While you cannot focus well during the daytime, it is Often a big battle to fall asleep in the heart of darkness You will visit the washroom more often than you’d like to But fail to urinate clean or excrete to your heart’s content Seldom will you find yourself among fellow humans Nor can you make new friends as you could before You will walk more slowly until you lose mobility & Carsickness will return & make you nervous again You will go through all such & many other sufferings Besides being chased by darkening shadows of death But you can enjoy more freedoms than ever before, & Stop saying or doing whatever you would rather not Last Words to HL I am, as I have always been, really sorry, darling For all that you have had to go through simply To remain my wife. While I love you, treasure You, you have seldom cared about me, especially Since we got married. Indeed, you have been trying Very hard to be a reasonably dutiful spouse, yet You never touch me, respect me, but treat me no more Or no less than a money-making machine, ready To leave me when you find me hopelessly too poor Making love from time to time with someone else Right in the kitchen of your heart, I know all that I know all this has been very hard for you, darling But now you are becoming truly free, free from me Free from any restrictions, Chinese or foreign, you Can do whatever you want with your heart or body To pursue your girlish romanticism or fantacies The moment I breathe out this last syllable of mine Be well, darling, I know you will forget me soon and Have many more years to live. And I am sorry, darling Really, I am deeply sorry to have kept you for so long Bamboo Leaf: This Is Not a Death Rehearsal It is true not all purple bamboos can be Made into flutes, but beside My dying bed, you can still whistle, with Any bamboo leaf, even your two bare lips Rage, rage against the dying of the light Just blow these few noisy notes aloud Into my shrunk innnself: Success Happiness Selfhood Individualism Human dignity and, of course Rage, rage against the dying of the light All gone with the wind Rage, rage against the dying of the light Yuan Changming published monographs on translation before leaving China. With a Canadian PhD in English, Yuan currently edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Yuan in Vancouver; credits include ten Pushcart nominations, the Naji Naaman's Literary Prize 2018, Best of the Best Canadian Poetry, BestNewPoemsOnline, Threepenny Review and 1,449 others worldwide.
yuan changming @ Poetry Pacific https://poetrypacific.blogspot.ca https://happyyangsheng.blogspot.ca Lotus Image & License: Depositphotos_32738103_s-2015 |
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