On a sunny Saturday afternoon
I would lead my inner selfhood
Out of my small rented room
To the Fraser River Valley Park
To let it play with other dogs
Running and jumping wildly
Catching the ball each time I threw
Into the air, the tree shade, the ditch
The bank, the water, and sometimes
The ridge, where it sometimes stopped and stood
Looking beyond the horizon, as if to join the wild
Becoming one and the same with the little could
Drifting freely around, under the western sky
Changming Yuan, 8-time Pushcart nominee and author of Chansons of a Chinaman (2009) and Landscaping (2013), grew up in rural China and currently tutors in Vancouver, where he co-edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Qing Yuan and operates PP Press. Recently interviewed by [PANK] and World Poetry [CFRO100.5FM], Yuan’s poetry has appeared in Best Canadian Poetry (2009;12), BestNewPoemsOnline, London Magazine, Threepenny Review and 819 other publications across 28 countries.
Photo credit: Andrew Morrell Photography
Turtle Way 