{"id":13973,"date":"2021-12-15T08:16:34","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T06:16:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/egophobia.ro\/?p=13973"},"modified":"2021-12-15T08:16:34","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T06:16:34","slug":"poems-by-changming-yuan-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/?p=13973","title":{"rendered":"poems by Changming Yuan"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Love-Thought: for Qi Hong<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This yearning burns my marrows into itchy bubbles<\/p>\n

Till\u2026 my innermost being evaporates<\/p>\n

With the hot air of feel<\/p>\n

As stupor overwhelms me<\/p>\n

As if hemlock I have drunk<\/p>\n

Or meditation that has carried me far away<\/p>\n

While my thought sails with the wind<\/p>\n

Like a ferry boat left empty<\/p>\n

Swinging by itself in an evening storm<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Lawn Looks Lush: for Qi Hong<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The lawn looks lush & fresh after last<\/p>\n

Night\u2019s rain as he imagines her going to bed<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Across the Pacific. He browses avidly online<\/p>\n

Mostly in his mother tongue, imagining her sleeping<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Against another hot & humid night in Zhuhai. He reads<\/p>\n

Poems sent to him, imagines how she would touches his big<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Forehead like a wanton when they meet. He does stretching<\/p>\n

Exercise in front of his tall window, imagining her hair falling<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Like autumn leaves in his neighborhood. He eats wudong noodles<\/p>\n

For lunch, imagining the hometown dishes she will cook for him alone<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He goes to pee after taking his nap, imagines how she may rise to greet<\/p>\n

The morning glows, imagining him getting lost in his imaginations about her<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Whale-Drawing; for Qi Hong<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He sent her a photo of a whale splashing back<\/p>\n

Into the waves of the Pacific, asking her to draw<\/p>\n

A picture to use as his wechat head image. &<\/p>\n

For a long time she had no idea about how<\/p>\n

A whale\u2019s call could reach as far as a thousand<\/p>\n

Miles, even beyond a whole continent, but<\/p>\n

Only to be heard & understood by a fellow<\/p>\n

Whale at 52 hertz, much less about how its tail<\/p>\n

Looks like \u2018Y\u2019, the letter his name begins with, &<\/p>\n

The title of the best poem<\/p>\n

He has ever written<\/p>\n

Until he tells her how he has been a human-whale<\/p>\n

Swimming lonely against the currents of life, &<\/p>\n

How she\u2019d better portray him as Mobi Dick\u2019s relative<\/p>\n

Returning to the wild of the sea, with her pencils, in<\/p>\n

Her eyes & heart, & how to avoid copyright issues<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Returning to Hometown: for Qi Hong<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1\/ Jinzhou, October 7: an Episodic Sonnet<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After celebrating your father\u2019s birthday, you<\/p>\n

Went out of your way to see my mother in<\/p>\n

Jinzhou as my shadow wife, rather than in<\/p>\n

Any other dubious capacity. Though you<\/p>\n

Stayed there for 15 minutes only, you left a<\/p>\n

Handsome red envelope containing all the<\/p>\n

Filialness of a Confucian son on my behalf<\/p>\n

Indeed, I may not survive the Pandemic, nor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Might she hold long enough for me to cross<\/p>\n

The Pacific again, but your ad hoc visit gave<\/p>\n

Her the best comfort from a daughter-in-law<\/p>\n

Yes, she felt sorry she did not take a photo with<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You, but I assured her to commemorate the<\/p>\n

Meeting in a foreign language as she wished<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2\/ Zhuhai, October 8: a Lover\u2019s Stone <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No, no, no, you should not have had a thief\u2019s<\/p>\n

Conscience when you went to see my mother<\/p>\n

On my behalf, for a heart-stealer is no thief<\/p>\n

In the first place<\/p>\n

As for the gift of a big stamp<\/p>\n

Jade, it was given not to you alone, but to both<\/p>\n

Of us, which you can cut into two, one to<\/p>\n

Carve into an artist\u2019s seal for you, the other<\/p>\n

A poet\u2019s signature for me. More important<\/p>\n

From the same piece of jade, they can produce<\/p>\n

Gold-like artworks, if used together<\/p>\n

Like a philosopher\u2019s stone<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Atmosphere for the Recovery: for Qi Hong <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1\/ In the Climate<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Longing of love is a climate of heart<\/p>\n

A definition by degrees<\/p>\n

Warmth sweating into serenity<\/p>\n

Lines of thought bloated into starkness<\/p>\n

As if our whole worlds have been woven<\/p>\n

Into the one & same artwork<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2\/ Empty Your Lungs<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Exhale hard<\/p>\n

Exhale every bit<\/p>\n

Of darkness<\/p>\n

In its gaseous state<\/p>\n

Like the malignant cell<\/p>\n

In your lungs<\/p>\n

Until your feel is burning with desires<\/p>\n

For a fulfillment of lighted air, then<\/p>\n

You will feel fresh & lighted<\/p>\n

As if gaining a new birth inside out<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For Qi Hong: Setting off Once Again<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How come I seldom dream<\/em>, you once complain<\/p>\n

But before returning to Songzi, where we grew<\/p>\n

Up together, you did have one, & one in which<\/p>\n

You run after me to catch a last bus at twilight<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You ask me to interpret this dream, hopefully<\/p>\n

Like a fortune teller or Freudian psychologist<\/p>\n

& all I have to say is it is an auspicious one<\/p>\n

For any fast moving vehicle in a dream means<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A solid progress in life. Given the way I led you<\/p>\n

Closely hand in hand, we\u2019re meant not only to join<\/p>\n

Truth in a Platonic relationship, but as a true<\/p>\n

Couple eager to get onto the bus to happiness<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Towards Reunion: a Periodic Sentence for Qi Hong<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At a fairyfly-like moment<\/p>\n

On a bushy corner of nature<\/p>\n

Preferably under a tall pine tree<\/p>\n

In Mayuehe, our mecca or the hilly village<\/p>\n

Adjacent closely to the bank of the Yangtze River<\/p>\n

With myriad tongues from my hungry innermost being<\/p>\n

Each eager to reach deep into your heart, where my soul\u2019s<\/p>\n

Fingers could caress every single synapse of your feminine feel<\/p>\n

Between the warmth & tenderness of love, across the Pacific & the Pandemic<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll join you<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Love-Thought: for Qi Hong   This yearning burns my marrows into itchy bubbles Till\u2026 my innermost being evaporates With the hot air of feel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1516,77],"tags":[1047,1517,1123],"class_list":["post-13973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-egophobia-69","category-english","tag-changming-yuan","tag-egophobia-69-70","tag-english"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6DakB-3Dn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13974,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13973\/revisions\/13974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egophobia.ro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}