“Sonnet to Morrow,” Poems by Yuan Changming

Sonnet to Morrow 
 
Since         yester twilight 
Along         the borderline of tonight 
With          fits of thirst & hunger 
Among         storms of pain 
Under         attacks of viruses  
Between       interludes of insomnia 
Beyond        both hope & expectation  
 
At            the depth of darkness 
Amidst        the nightmare 
Through       one tiny antlike moment 
After         another . . .  
Against       deadly despair 
Until         awakening  
To            the first ray of dawn  




Holistic Relationship 
(for Qi Hong) 
 
99% from me plus 
1% from you 
Makes 
Our love  
Just happily perfect 
 
Though, alas 
Not exactly ideal 
As anyone might wish  




Tips for Becoming a Great World Citizen in the e.Age 
 
1. Don’t argue with any numbers, but just follow the google algorithm; 
2. Abide by American interest rather than international law; 
3. Whatever game Uncle Sam is up to play, join the team led by him;  
4. Always shore up the green back, white face and purple heart; 
5. Remember: information is always might, whereas power is always right; 
6. Only Yankees can set fires, while you are never allowed to light a candle; 
7. Subject all your speech acts to AmEnglish syntax, including your local slangs; 
8. Be accommodating to any investments from Wall Street; 
9. It is imperative to baptise your souls in the currents of freedom & democracy; 
10. Never try to come close to the super boss like soviets, japs or chinamen . . . 




 I = Human: A Bilinguacultural Poem
 
 1/ The Connotations of I vs 我 

 The first person singular pronoun, or this very 
 Writing subject in English is I , an only-letter 
 Word, standing straight like a pole, always 
 Capitalized, but in Chinese, it is written with 
 Lucky seven strokes as 我 , with at least 108 
 Variations, all of which can be the object case 
 At the same time. 
                   Originally, it’s formed from 
 The character 找, meaning ‘pursuing’, with one 
 Stroke added on the top, which may well stand for 
 Anything you would like to have, such as money 
 Power, fame, sex, food, or nothing if you prove 
 Yourself to be a Buddhist practitioner inside out
 
 2/ The Denotations of Human & 人
 
 Since I am a direct descendant of Homo Erectus, let me 
 Stand straight as a human/人, rather than kneel down
 
 When two humans walk side by side, why to coerce one 
 Into obeying the other like a slave fated to follow/从?
 
 Since three humans can live together, do we really need 
 A leader or ruler on top of us all as a group/众?
 
 Given all the freedom I was born with, why 
 Just why cage me within walls like a prisoner/囚？   

***

Yuan Changming grew up in an isolated village, started to learn the English alphabet at age nineteen and published monographs on translation before leaving China. Currently, Yuan edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Yuan in Vancouver. Credits include eleven Pushcart nominations, nine chapbooks & awards, as well as publications in Best of the Best Canadian Poetry (2008-2017), & BestNewPoemsOnline, among 1,809 others across 46 countries.