One day in my previous life
I picked a leaf from a laurel tree
On the peak of Mt. Olympus, and
Put it in between two pages
Of an unread poetry collection.
Now, opening the long-forgotten book
I spot a bird flying from behind
The leaf. Though it has been
Prisoned there for almost half a century
It chooses to fly into the sky of history
The instant it sees the light.
Visit http://poetrypacificpress.blogspot.ca/
http://www.facebook.com/poetry.pacific.
—–
Yuan Changming, 9-time Pushcart nominee and author of 7
chapbooks (including Wordscaping [2016]), published monographs on
translation before moving out of China. With a PhD in English, Yuan
currently edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Yuan in Vancouver, and has poetry appearing in Best Canadian Poetry, BestNewPoemsOnline,
Threepenny Review and 1199 others across 38 countries.