iHooyeau
supposing Darwin was right
it did take as long as one million years
before apes became what we are, gradually
and passively, with the help of our environment
however, with our own intelligence
and technology, we are going
to evolve into iHooyeaus suddenly and
actively, in a matter of just one generation
or two, a new species that will consume
lunar energy instead of sun-based foods
each living in a unique virtual
reality, where multiplication is achieved
sexlessly via logic rather than through
love, where each individual lifetime is
expended within a tiny chip
so, are you happy to be the last humans
or the earliest iHooyeaus?
Dytiscus Larvae:
Natural Drama
One most ferocious
robber in the pond
World, observes a
zoologist, is a slim,
Streamlined insect
called the Dytiscus larvae:
Lying in ambush on a
water grass
He suddenly shoots at
lightning speed
To his prey (or
anything moving or smelling
Of ‘animal’ in any
way, a fat tadpole, for
Instance), darts
underneath it, then quickly
Jerks up his head,
grabs it in his jaws
Injects his poisonous
glandular secretion into it
Dissolves its entire
inside into a liquid soup
And sucks as it swells
up first, and then gradually
Shrinks to a limp
bundle of skin until it finally falls
From his fatal kiss.
Very few animals
According to the
observer
Even when starved to
death would attack
Let alone eat an
equal-sized animal
Of their own species
But the Dytiscus does,
just as man does
Within or without a pond
Would/Wouldn’t
If every human had a
pair of wings
(Made of strong
mussels and broad feathers
Rather than wax like
Icarus’)
Who wouldn’t jump high
or become eager to fly
Either towards the
setting sun
Or against the rising
wind?
Who wouldn’t migrate
afar with sunshine
And glide most
straight to a warmer spot
In the open space?
Indeed
Who would continue to
confine himself
Within the thick walls
of a small rented room?
Who would willingly
take a detour
Bump into a stranger,
or stumble down
Along the way? More
important
Who would remain fixed
here
At the same corner all
her life
Like a rotten stump,
hopeless
Of a new green growth?
There’s No Life
without an ‘If’ in It: 36 One-Word Idioms
No belief without a
lie
No business without
sin
No character without
an act
No coffee without a
fee
No courage without
rage
No culture without a
cult
No entrance without a
trance
No epicenter without
an epic
No Europe without a
rope
No friendship without
an end
No fundamentalism
without mental fun
No heritage without a
tag
No husband without an
usb
No ghost without a
host
No infancy without
fancy
No inspiration without
a ration
No manifestation
without man
No millionaire without
a lion
No nirvana without a
van
No passage without a
sage
No passion without an
ass
No pharmacy without
harm
No plant without a
plan
No prevention without
an event
No product without a
duct
No recovery without
something over
No sight without a
sigh
No slaughter without
laughter
No smile without a
mile
No spring without a
ring
No startle with art
No substance without a
stance
No think without ink
No truth without a rut
No whole without a
hole
No wife without an 'if'
On Mother's Day:
for Liu Yu
Rather than composing
poetry
To commemorate you
after you are gone
I am now writing, dear
Mom
To pay my highest
tribute to you
As one of the
hardest-fated on earth
Yes, among the many
death experiences you’ve had
The most significant
one for me (and my sons)
Was your sickness you
suffered at two, which was so
Severe that your poor
and ignorant foster mother
Could do nothing but
put you on a flat basket
And return your living
corpse to your bio-creator
But for your step
father, who used his shamanic skills
To contain the evil
spirit and drive it to an unknown
Corner, you would have
died like a doomed sapling
(That’s why your name
is changed to ‘Refound’)
So, stay well, Mom,
and remain hardy for us!
Yuan Changming, 8-time Pushcart nominee and author of 4 chapbooks including Mindscaping [2014]), grew up in rural China, started to learn English at 19 and published several monographs on translation before moving to Canada. With a PhD in English from the U of Saskatchewan, Yuan currently co-edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Qing Yuan in Vancouver, Changming's poetry appears in 1009 literary journals/anthologies across 32 countries, including Best Canadian Poetry (2009,12,14), BestNewPoemsOnline and Threepenny Review.
your poems listing out idioms is brilliant!
ReplyDeleteyour poem listing out idioms is brilliant!
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