Changming Yuan authored several books before emigrating out of China and currently teaches writing in Vancouver. Yuan's poems appear in Barrow Street, Best Canadian Poetry, Exquisite Corpse, London Magazine and over 200 other literary publications worldwide. His debut collection (Chansons of a Chinaman) and monograph (Politics and Poetics) were both released in September 2009. Yuan has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
Three Poems (March 20, 2011. Issue 26. The SLAM & FLASH Issue!)
Within the Cyberspace
Birth is a wonder
Death is a hunter
Nothing is in between
Except a number after number
A Cop's Confession
Father, I know this is not a proud thing to do
But I really enjoy hiding myself
Somewhere in a dim corner
To catch a poor guy never known to us
Changing lanes without giving a signal
Speeding a couple of kilos over the limit
Attempting a left turn under a yellow light
Or simply looking unlikable to me
You know, father, it is always safer
Always more fun and more comfortable
Always bossier, and certainly more profitable
To give a stranger guy a ticket, a handsome fine
Than to catch an evil devil , an armed robber
A cold-blooded murderer, a violent drug addict
Even a drunkard costs me more skills
More brains, more guts, more strengths
It may be a bit too cowardly, too mean or wicked
Too ruthless or mischievous on my part
I know, but we just cannot help it, father
Fortune Cookie Fortune
Good fortune
Bad fortune
Always delivered
Within a crispy cookie
Cheap wisdom
Costly instruction
Always served
By an angel waitress
White plate
Black message
Always digested
In a Chinese restaurant
To eat your fortune
Before reading the message
Or to read the message
Before eating your fortune
It is all a question
Of if you would like
To eat out in the downtown
Of your heart
Or prepare your own meal
In the kitchen
Of your home
Two Poems (January 20, 2010. Issue 13.)
Onion
With so many masks
Each getting fresher
Finer, fairer
And closer
To your heart
Your masks are your body
Your body is your face
Is your face your mask
Or your heart itself?
You have never been a forbidden fruit
Not even to Eve
Freedom vs Power
each time i come to stand on the beach
my mind eager to break from my body
flapping its wishful wings
chasing the silver seagull
gliding high above in the beaming blue sky
like a pair of ice dancers
as i enjoy this truly rare moment
of total freedom borrowed from a bird
i overhear the wind whispering at my ears:
being able to do what you prefer to
is a persistently pursued privilege on earth
but being able not to do what you would rather not
is the ultimate savings deposited in heaven