A Poem for Changming Yuan

January 2: For Yuan Hongqi

 

That was the day when my father died

Before finishing the longevity noodles

Mom’s trying to feed him below our feet

On the other face of the planet, where

He had persisted long enough to allow

Us to celebrate another new year’s day

In Jingzhou as well as in Vancouver

When my brother’s only son managed to

Travel all the way to Grandpa’s dying bed

To report how he was doing in New York

 

This was also the time when I and Hengxiang

Felt like making love again after another

Cold war, when Iran successfully testfired

Two long-range missiles in the Persian Gulf

To deter the invasion to be led by Uncle Sam

And his running dogs, when the very first

Plymouth Neon was made in 2000, when JFK

Became a senator in 1960, when a stamped

Took 66 human lives after a soccer game

At the Ibrox Park Stadium in Scotland

Even earlier, and when God was taking

A long overdue nap, since he knew

All was well with this wild wild world

 

On that day, I became the oldest male

In my entire family, ready to take my turn

To deal with death in a masculine manner

 

 

 

Changming Yuan, 4-time Pushcart nominee and author of Chansons of a Chinaman, grew up in rural China, holds a PhD in English, and currently works as a private tutor in Vancouver; his poetry has appeared in nearly 510 literary publications across 20 countries, including Asia Literary Review, Best Canadian Poetry, BestNewPoemsOnline, Exquisite Corpse, London Magazine, Paris/Atlantic, Poetry Kanto and SAND.