Yuan Changming
Dawn. It roams above the purple
Glows, alone. Again it dispatches
Cats and dogs as if
From heaven. Styx
Which has for thousands of years received waters
From on earth, has received human lives
You are still waiting, within a dying body
Alone. The dog has arrived, barking aloud
Here is the dust to spread over
Your corpse — no ending is
A happy ending. Towards a black hole
Are their spirits flowing, with this reality
***
Yuan Changming published monographs on translation before leaving China. Currently, Yuan edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Yuan in Vancouver. Credits include Pushcart nominations, Best of the Best Canadian Poetry and BestNewPoemsOnline, among others.