Behind a Ballard
tp bring this single word
into the mind, the cherry flower has prepared to bloom
tp bring this single word
into the mind, the cherry flower has prepared to bloom
for the whole spring
to bring this single line
onto the paper, the
thunder has rolled
through
the entire summer sky
to bring this single
stanza
onto the mouth, the west
wind has blown
over all the golden fields
-Out of Memoriam
in a quiet corner
a squirrel jumped up
onto the thickest tree in
the backyard
of my heart
it’s up there no more,
but its movements
remain visible among the
leaves
the tenderly broken
branches
still holding its weight
-Outer Spaces
the landscape is wildly
wide
is thin-colored
conceptions loom above the
skyline
impulses swirl near the
hills
no wind of feeling is
blowing
as the spirit sails on the sea
as the spirit sails on the sea
in the limbo
the whole outside is held
right at the tip of my
mind’s tongue
-Dao: the Origin of Species
before that big blast
there was neither time
nor space
nor matter
nor laws of physics
nor gods of course
so they say
or believe
but somewhere
out of all that void
Dao grew into one point of
being
divided into two
two into four
four into myriads
until it has become
a whole universe
still growing
together with man and god
alike
-Me and Leaf
for all its might and
determination
the big cherry tree in
front of my yard
has failed to keep that
single leaf
from falling down to the
lawn of your heart
watching it too long, I
feel totally lost
whether I have become part
of that leaf
or that leaf has become
part of me
both trying to stay on the
spot, like an actor
-The-Canadian-Comedy
in London we speak like
Yankees
in New York, we sound like
Cockneys
we try to have American
economy
British politics, French
culture
yet we are somehow lost in
British economy
French politics, and
American culture
one reason is we only look
skookum
another is too proud of
our face off
our blue line, and
especially our puck
more important perhaps, we
pronounce z as zed
rather than zee, eh?
-An Allegory of Power/Food
Chain
The Atlantic cod, living
upon
Herring and like, upon
Krill, upon
Plankton
That is, when the cold
water of the gulf stream
Meets the warm water of
the Labrador currents
-Therefore
They
Hated
Therefore
They
Are
Not
They
Are
Not
Therefore
They
Hated
-What Is an Antiself
a young willow
trying to hold its shadow
firm
an old mouse
making love with an alien
cat
a stone
rolling downhill
in front of its own soul
-Siamese-Stanzas: Matrix of
Evolution
adams love eves
love eves adams
eves adams love
adams adams love
love eves
eves love
adams
eves
love
-Rain Love
so often have I wondered
why I love rain so fondly
all my life
is it because in every
rain the innermost strings
of my heart are plucked by
the fingers of heaven?
More often have I wondered
Why rain always makes me
feel so profoundly peaceful
Is it because the
transparent curtain of the raindrops
Allow me to see through
the world at a bold distance?
Most often have I wondered
Why I can gain a glimpse
of god in each rain
Is it because I could
never find the reason
Why I love rain with so
much of my heart and soul?
-Lens
You have lost the
Lens
That has no
Frame without it
And that frame
Has come off from
The lens right
In front of
Your eyes which
Will have a
Frame within it
-Hope: Another Parallel
Poem
Hope grows from the soiled
soul
Knowingly
Like a blade of grass
Growing from the crevice
Of a winter rock
It will cut the entire
land green
Again, when spring returns
Changming
Yuan
1550 W 68th
Ave
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6P 4V5
-Seeing a Shadow
In the dark
No one is moving
A figurative form
Surely an alien
Is standing still
Surely
Never will we
-10 poetic paradoxes
- The most effective poem is a poem that says everything when it says nothing or vice versa;
- The most appealing image is an image that blossoms fully beyond its absence rather than within its presence;
- The ‘best’ poetry is never published, while poetry published can often be the ‘best’;
- An act of speech is seldom true poetry, but true poetry is always a speech act;
- Every person is a born poet, yet no poem is born poetry;
- Most great poets are great because of their words’ luck, and most great poems are great because of their word’s worth;
- Unlike poets, poetry will never die, but like poets, poetry can get crazy or fall sick easily;
- There have never been any truly great poets, but only truly great poems;
- True poetry is never long: one line is often long enough to make a whole poem great;
- Fiction tells, poetry speaks, but few listen to more than they hear;
-Living: Another Parallel
Poem
You will get up again
tomorrow morning--
Only with one more dream
in your heart
-Modern Mandarin-Speaker:
Another Parallel Poem
The Chinaman you are
Is not what I heard
Though your speech is
still single-syllabled
Four-toned
The Chinaman you are
Speaks a different
mandarin now
Changed over time
Like pidgin
Making utterances
Bubbling and boisterous
That might hide
Your local accent
The Chinaman you are
Is not what I hear
Speaks with the same old
pronunciation
But a new intonation
-Day & Night: A
Parallel Poem
The day has no ears
The heart but a myriad
The noises glare
Where life’s grievance
begins
The night has no eyes
The mind but a myriad
The shadows collide
When your spirit bites at
the light
-Surrounding the Artwork: A
Parallel Poem
It is understanding that
counts in this world
The understanding from the
depths of your heart and mine
That is far more helpful
to a withering soul
Than honey or money, fame
or game
For sexual pleasure can
last no more than a few minutes
Wealth can never turn a
leaf green in winter
Reputation in full bloom
is meaningless once the twig breaks off
And power is only a cold
joke to the truly wise
But understanding from a
fellow soul can uplift the spirit
Saving it from thinning
into nothingness
Suffice it to hope: it
begins to communicate
Long before understanding
comes along
-In the Hall: A Parallel Poem
I danced an hour with
Discontent
She turned around me a
hundred times
But made me none the
happier
For all the sweet smiles
on her face
I danced a minute with
Content
And ne’er a single move
made she
But oh, all the blessings
I can gain
Even when she looks sullen
-The Spot of Spirits: A
Parallel Poem
Some raindrops go up and
some go down
At the selfsame spot where
it gathers
‘Tis the heat of the
sunlight
And not the terrain
Which sends them low or
high
Like the raindrops are the
ways of our spirits
As we are scattered around
like corral islands
‘Tis the set of the mind
That keeps us up or down
Not the rock where we
perch
-The Confucian Knowledge: A
Parallel Poem
Only you know, you only
know, you know only
When you know that you
know
When you know that you
know not
You need to know when you
know not that you know
You know that you know not
when you know not
Or you know not that you
know not when you know not
-Coarse Language: A
Four-Letter Poem
They fart, they fick, they
feck, they foak
They piss, they pish, they
puss, they poop
They darn, they dump, they
dick, they dyke
--Can’t they ever live
with more love than fuck?
-There-Are-No-Delicacies
There are no hard
delicacies in me
Like the chips in a
computer
Though I have numerous
nerves
All integrated like the
circuits
In a cpu or gpu
Don’t hook me up just
yet
There are too many
emotional data in me
To be digitalized into
your software
Though there are plenty of
spaces
For processing or
programming
-The Words: A Parallel Poem
The words I have captured
are wild
You warned me they would
fly
But I really wanted to
give a try
Taming them into birds
nice and mild
Within the edges of this
blank page
They long to return to the
open wood
But I enclose them with
delicate mood
Even if they might die as
if in a cage
-On the Ferry Boat
We have never been here
before
But I remember with every
precision
The way you sat in
singular silence
The muted calls of the
fish
The hills beyond the bay
The smell of the west wind
That was blowing through
the heartland
Within both you and me
Have we met before in a
dream
Or is this meeting a dream
of before?
-Unsure
When a deer was born
The sunlight thrilled the
whole forest
When the idea looms
What view? A volcanic
island
Will be the newly-formed
Mirage. With a morning
glow
Trying to land
beyond the mindscape
-For Morland
You listen to a trout in
the sea. Its fins
Are flapping.
And the whale that swims
As it charges into God’s
fishing net
Like a moth bumping into a
glass window
Gradually together
Without the currents
approaching afar
You find too many shrimps
and sharks
You hate to see
The animal scene. And I
depart
So noisily that the trout
turns frantic
And you spot an eel’s
shuttle
Amidst waves.
So finitely vast
Yet few
-Nightscape
You saw the clouds near
the skyline
Drifting around in an
earthly dance
You hear the evening
clearing its throat
As if to address a huge
crowd
Close to your dream
explodes around
The heavy metal music of
the inner city
When high above the
streets
The moon flees like a
startled seagull
-Mind
Dipping, soaring
Weaving, flittering
Through the darkest air
In a mythic cavern
Like a bat beating about
All alone
Just as every beast
Is forever confined
Within its own skin
So is every mind
Is jailed tightly
Behind the fine bars
Of our nerve endings
But this is the first and
last bird
That can never be caged
-Snow White
So white
Swirlingly and
spirallingly white
Billions of butterflies
Beating their wings white
The sky
The land
The wind so high
Blowing the whole hard
afternoon
Into scraps of confetti
white
So softly and tenderly
white
Even the spirits of night
The dark
The darker
The darkest corners of
human minds
All become so deafening
white
Except a crow in flight
beyond this worldly sight
-English-Kanata
Living in the buttes
and parklands
With the chutes
running through the muskeg
Where Douglas
fir and Sitka spruce
dwarf
Manitoba maple
and tamarack
Among kinnikinnick,
saskatoon and soapallallie
We keep fool
hens, siwash ducks
Turkey vultures
and whiskey jacks
But not really caribous,
pecans
Siffleurs
or Massassauga rattlers
We eat cisco,
inconnu, kokanee, ouananiche
Or oollichan
together with timbits
Under the guidance of a
bush pilot
Along the blue
line
We sometimes ride a chuck
wagon
On a grid
or asphalt road
When we have a tea
party on our veranda
We always prefer to sit on
a chesterfield
We have coined tons of
loonies and toonies
To pay our premiers
and suitcase farmers
alike
It matters not if we dwell
in a flat or apartment
If we play with a pack or
deck of cards
Not even if we take a
holiday or vacation
But we do care about how
our MLAs
Face off
with one another
Even over a puck
-Statement of Publication
This work is a holographic
rendering of life
And is thus more real
than reality
At least it is meant to be
such
Since every detail is
recorded here exactly as is
No name, character, place
or incident
Not even an single whim
or impulse
Is fictional or fabricated
Indeed, all is true,
and true to the bone
While no identification
with reality is coincidental
Or it can never be
represented otherwise
Everyone is welcome to
come and claim for his or her right to the fame-game
Except those unable to
see what he looks at or hears what she listens to
Changming
Yuan
1550 W 68th
Ave
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6P 4V5
-Acknowledgements
First … and lastly
I would like to thank
nobody
No human being
Not even god himself
But the unnamed and
nonphysical agents
Working hand in hand
Behind the scenes
Between the moments
Beyond the Way
Or the Dao as Daoists call
it
That have put an end to
All the rejections and
resentments
Insults and injustices
I have been going through
For more than a decade
Just to cowboy some
groups of words
Into this flat ranch of
mine
Until here and now
-At the Dentist’s: A
Politically Risky Poem
Do my teeth look alright,
Doc?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but
you are getting newly old.
Why do I sometimes feel so
awkward about my teeth, Doc?
That’s because even
your wisdom teeth are retarded.
How come I keep dreaming
about losing all my teeth, Doc?
I am not a psychiatrist
ready to listen to you as long as you don’t make sense.
What are you trying to do
with my teeth this time, Doc?
Please stop dodging my
mouth mirror in such straightforward way!
How can I make sure my
teeth will not deteriorate further, Doc?
Just open your mouth
and shut up!
-Early Birds
When I heard that bold
yawing
Knocking at my
double-glazed window
A sound in the mind echoed
From an unknown voice
Louder
And louder
As if to wake my spirit
Still sleeping like a
winter stone
Outside my dream, far away
-Snowflake:-A-Parallel-Poem
before the first flake
falls down
on the winter-washed
ground
a silence in the heart
unfolds itself:
between light and shadow
squeezes in a tense
presence
closer and closer
from the sunless afternoon
to the mind, deep inside
-Progressing
Within an unseen cavern
Flies around his own mind
Blindly as a bat
All by itself
Flittering through the
dark air
It dropped when hitting
against a wall
Its left wing melted long
before
As it flew towards the
light
The other wing big and
wide
It keeps gliding in one
direction
So is he also turning
round
As if in a broken circle
And flies, flying, day and
night
Up and down in an unseen
world
Until a new wing grows out
Leading him to the open
sky
-Departing
At the airport of your
home city
You lost your passport
Your only and most
authentic id
Lying there, meditating
Before long, someone
Who finds it
Will care no more about
your other self
This evening, as you do
now
It is a small world
Of numbered narrow gates
Lines of passengers and
luggage
You run around, looking
The space behind you
Bright, free of shadows
In a prison of domes of
glasses
You became a frenzy moth
Early travelers
Hurrying and light-hearted
Out of sight, the ground
Of a footprint-free
texture
Third call to check in
But you are still looking
Before you find your valid
selfhood
You have to stay put
-Awaiting
There is a long wait of
the passengers
For the detouring and
delayed bus
And the wait of the wintry
grasses
The wait of the legendary
lion king
Before it preys upon a
real baby zebra
And the wait of the summer
sun deep in the nightmare
The wait of the orchid on
the window ledge
The wait of the diamond in
an unknown mine
And the wait where you
stop and watch
And there is a wait of
this darkness
Which you are going to
compress into words
A wait that is to spread
out thin on the blank paper
Unlike winter stars
holding their light in light-years
The wait after you finish
writing
And the longer wait then
-Class-761,-Shanghai
So you are the second one
From the middle in the
first standing row
In a world of black and
white
Is this the girl squatting
in the front
Who you might have pursued
hard
But your pride and
prejudice prevented you
The tall and handsome guy
from a high-class family
Who suspected your poverty
had made you a thief
Before he lost and found
his fancy watch in the dorm
And your make-do friend is
the third one
From the left in the
second standing row, the nice guy
Who had a really hard time
passing every single test
Wait, there is more to it
–
Who is the guy that has
become the vice president of Citigroup
And who is the girl that
died a miser-multimillionaire in Seattle last year
What’s happened to the
character library building behind all of you
Did they really convert it
into a brilliantly decorated hotel
To accommodate your
travelling alumni, rich or famous?
-Natural Labor Division
She shops for every piece
of grocery
I pay
every small or big bill
She does all the cooking
I
wash dishes, most of the time
She cleans all the
surfaces
I put
all items in proper places
She washes everyone’s
clothes with a machine
I pull out every weed
with my hands
She makes sure all doors
are locked at night
I make bed every morning
She takes out garbage once
a week
I sunbathe quilts and
blankets once a month
She files a major
complaint every season
I file our tax returns
every year
She does everything else
against her habit
I do all other stuffs
according to my interest
-Returnings
Once out of the shadow
Never block the light
A moment of turning back
To the dark dream behind
you
Would cast your entire
figure
Into the heart of night
Un-retrievable even at
noon
-Sunflower
To demonstrate their
heliotropism
They all keep saluting
To the summer sun,
constantly moving
But at this private spot
You alone refuse to
flatter light during the day
Bow towards the east at
night
Even take a look beyond
the foggy fields
Close to the fence between
day and night
You hold your head high,
trying
To mould every little
conception
Into a silver bullet aimed
at Venus
-Seeing the Dragon: A
Parallel Poem
Did you see
Some creature seeming to
loom
Somewhere above the
jungle?
You find only part of the
picture
Like an eerie-shaped piece
For a huge jigsaw puzzle
Or you never bother to
look for the pieces
And put them into a whole
It is neither a boa nor a
serpent
Nor a phoenix
Certainly not an eel
But a strange dragon
rising up
Beyond the bluish bay
How come it turns out a
dragon?
You feel it disgusting to
the bone. Monstrousness
Is particularly despicable
At the side door of your
mind
A heavy metal voice is
knocking
Constantly:
So unthinkable!
So hatefully
unthinkable
To see a real damned
dragon!
-The-Cherry Flower: A
Parallel Poem
Finally, on this Marpole
street
She manages to fall
Exactly on his shoulder
After a prolonged season
But a sudden gust of
summer wind
Blows her away from him
Onto the spring-carpeted
sidewalk
Only to be trodden there
By a stranger’s foot
Like a dejected flower
Changming
Yuan
-Summerscape
The galley of an unknown
author’s work
In a fully justified
format:
Every stark hill
italicized
Every glaring lake
capitalized
With no single tree
misspelled
Or single flower misplaced
Again and yet again, the
sun has
Proofread the text
With all its attention
And
Found everything just
ready to go
-The-Man-Most-Handsome
The most handsome man
Is the man under the
little buttocks
Of an infant boy, the one
who is giving
The child a thrilling
experience
By carrying it on his
broad shoulders
Flapping their arms
together
Like wings feathered with
boyhood dreams
Making it feel as if
gliding, flying
Swirling around
One day, the child will
become a pilot
A pioneer, someone who
operates a machine
To fly in an entirely new
space
The little child will not
remember
The way the man waved
their arms
Nor did it see the beaming
smile
On the man’s face when
they
Jumped over the ditch,
dodged
Blocking tree branches, or
ran
Against a sudden cold wind
But the child can never
forget
How it felt
As the man kept running
forward
Under its little buttocks
-Word-Vogue:-Another-Politically-Correct-Poem
According
to Global Language Monitoring (2009), the following words have
appeared most frequently on flat and e/media over the past decade.
Global warming, with
9/11, before
Obama, through
Bailout, for
Evacuees, from
Derivatives, via
Google, behind
Surge, against
Chinglish, till
Tsunami
Changming
Yuan
1550 W 68th
Ave
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6P 4V5
-Glass-Safe
There is a time
When engineers
Will make chips out of
people’s spirits
As a hobby
Someone I used to know
returns from then
I have seen her recently
But she knows me no more
Even after I told her who
I am
“The spirits are
installed onto various
Motherboards,” she
explained
“They are all
transparent
Kept in the same big glass
safe.
But no one knows how to
open it from within
Or whose spirits are
whose.”
-The Trees and the Villagers
Before the poplars grew as
tall as the shortest teenagers
They are cut off and made
into catapults of all sizes
To shoot at birds and
strangers alike
When the pines became
thick as plates on the table
They are fell down and
sawed into planks
For fences or shingles
Once the firs grow taller
than the tallest houses
They are cut down and used
to build taller houses
Or bigger barns, wider
bridges
Only the useless stinktree
In the farthest corner of
the village
Remains alive, growing
taller than many morning stars
Thicker than any dancing
circle formed at night
Standing against winds
beyond the winds
As generations of
generations of villagers
Were born and buried on
this side
Of the mountain
-On-the-Road
Road closed
Construction ahead
Expect delay
Detour
Construction ahead
Expect delay
Detour
Road closed
Expect delay
Detour
Road closed
Construction ahead
Detour
Road closed
Construction ahead
Expect delay
-he Artist and the Child
Seeing the sculptor
working on a piece of wood
The little girl comes up
and asks, surprisingly:
“How did you know there
is a bird
Hidden in this chunk of
wood?”
“I did not know anything
to start with
But found it by following
my heart, honey.”
“Will the bird fly away
when you cut open the cage?”
“Sure, you will feel it
flapping its wings in your heart.”
If-U-Can’t-See-Me-I-Can’t-See-U
(sign
at the back of a truck)
Outside the picture, if
you can’t see me, I can’t see you
Under a pile of words, if
you can’t see me, I can’t see you
Behind a big truck, if you
can’t see me, I can’t see you
That is, since I drive in
front of you
If you want to pass but
can’t see me in
My driver’s seat, or in
my front rear mirror, you are
In my blind spot, so don’t
follow me too closely, don’t
Try to pass me, but stay
calm behind my shadow
Otherwise you would kiss
my big ass in a bloody way
And so, when you
communicate
Wait and make sure you see
the right person first –
That’s for your own
safety, pal
When you are cursing,
singing, dancing, playing or fighting
It’s best to have the
real person in view:
If she can’t kiss you,
you can’t kiss her
If you can’t put up with
me, I can’t put up with you
If fame can’t grow out
of you, you can’t grow out of fame
If money can’t find you,
you can’t find money
If the politician can’t
trust you really, you really can’t trust the politician
Look, what I point out is,
if you can’t see me, I can’t see you
Whether it is in a book,
at a cemetery, on a plane, or behind a truck
Drive safe, you asshole.
-Me-&-Them
First, they looked but
without seeing
So, I began to yell in a
yellow voice
Then, they listened but
without hearing
So, I cooked according to
a Chinese recipe
Still, they smelt but
without tasting
So, I melt myself into
spring water
Finally, they touched but
without feeling
So, I began to tattoo
words on my own heart
-Variation A
You are not a mountain
range
That can decide how the
wind blows
But you can stand firm
even in a storm
You are not the moon
That can control when the
ocean rises
But you can keep floating
in any waters
You are not the earth
That can determine why the
seasons change
But you can bear fruit
under the sun
-Introspective
What kind
Of mirror
Do I have
In my mind
That has
A reflection
Looking in
At a shadow
That has a mirror
Looking in
At the reflection
That shows
Anyone but myself
When I look in
At it
-Substituting
Running short of bulbs
I planted some root words
instead
Along the fence
In the backyard of my mind
All winter
They seemed dreaming under
the frozen soil
When the last dews fly
away
You will see certain
three-colored tulips
Blooming aloud
Towards the early summer
sun
-Home-Defending:-Another-One-Act-Play-Poem
i [knock, knock, knock]
A:
who is it? – Oh, good morning, ladies!
B+C:
Good morning!
A:
You are…
B:
We’re just wondering if you’ve by any chance heard anything about
the Jesuits?
A:
Oh, sorry, I am in the middle of something urgent. This is not really
a good time…
C:
You read Chinese? Can we leave this pamphlet for you to read when you
have time?
A:
Sure, I will. Thank you very much and have a nice day!
ii [knock, knock,
knock]
A:
I am coming! [open the door but with some
hesitation]
D:
Good day, Sir!
A:
Good day. What is it about, you are not –
D:
My name is Angela, and I am volunteering for BC Lung Cancer Society.
A:
So you are here to ask for contributions?
D:
Yes, Sir! Anything would be a great help to our patients…
A:
Sure, sure. Here is 10 bucks. It’s not much, but hopefully will
serve them right.
iii [knock, knock,
knock]
A:
What do you want?!
E:
I do not want anything, Mister! But do you
want anything almost
for free?
A:
What is it?
E:
A brand new product you can use on your home computer to…
A:
Wait a second! Is this something for trial use? How long? Any
obligation?
E:
You are such smart gentleman! All you need to do is just to fill in
this form now…
A:
In that case, I’d prefer not to.
iv [knock, knock,
knock]
A:
Not again! What is it about this time?
F:
Would you open this door first, please?
A:
Not until you tell me what you want first.
F:
Look, I’m not asking for contributions, or trying to sell anything,
or…
A:
What is it about then?
F:
Just hoping to give you some brochures about the next election.
A:
Why not just throw them in through the slot?
v [knock, knock, knock]
A [ignoring the
persistent knocks on the door]: ?!
G:
Pizza!
A [as if talking to
himself]: In this house we never order
pizzas.
G:
Pizza delivery!
A:
Wrong house! [to his wife]
Give me the gun, honey!
-Much Ado about a Painting
He meant to hung the
painting on the wall
But the wall refused to
hold the nails firm
So he began to look for
some wood pieces
Only to find them all too
big as wedges
Then he tried to search
for his ax
Which turned out simply
too blunt
Desperate, he comb-sought
the whole garage
Until he located his
long-lost sharpening stone
By the time he gathered
all he needed
He had completely
forgotten
What he wanted to do at
the outset
-Directions to Destination
Head east on Confucius St
towards 8th Avenue
Take 2nd
right onto 8th
Avenue
Take 3rd
right onto Content St
Continue onto Hwy 6 N
Take exit 12 to merge onto
Hwy 88 towards Peach Garden
Exit onto Daoist Way
Continue straight onto
66th Avenue
Turn right at Wisdom St
Take the last left onto 99
Avenue
Destination will be on
the right
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