5 Poems by Allen Qing Yuan

Tree-ception

standing on the shoulders
of your elder wood
where the sides curve into faces
long, disfigured yet noble

your arms embrace outwardly
not afraid to be broken,
because they are inseparable

your veiny growth pumps through
the stump, a heartbeat so subtle
like a tambourine against the clouds

your skin is so thick, yet you are so open
learning from the sun
feeding yourself with its rays of nourishment
you will rise, a living legacy.
*


A Small Wish

I would rather be a leaf
Whose body may contain
The secrets of a whole forest

Or

A single dewdrop
Whose soul can see
Through an entire ocean


How Come

You really
        Me? She
Us? I
        You? He
Them? One
        Her? We
You? It
        Us? They
Him/her?


In the Forest of Life

He kept felling trees
One after another

Not to see whose ring is
The roundest, but to taste

Which cut offers the finest
And most fragrant sawdust


Four Haiku

Vase
Ever so eye-catching
Whether it stands high or low
With a hollow heart

Walnut
Always invisible
Behind its deeply wrinkled skin
Yet full of brains

Man-Spider
We are all spiders
Confining our lives to webs
Hung at dark corners

Leaf
High up on tree’s top
You flutter with power and pride
Until your downfall


Bionote

Allen Qing Yuan, author of Traffic Light, is a 2-time Pushcart and 2-time Best of the Net nominee. A former co-editor of Poetry Pacific, Allen is currently working full-time as an intern from the University of British Columbia. Since grade 10, Allen has had poetry appear in more than 70 literary publications across 16 countries, which include Cordite Poetry Review, Literary Review of Canada, Poetry Scotland, Shampoo and Spillway.