Poetry

Lesson One in Chinese Character/s: a Bilinguacultural Poem about Heart

感:/gan/ perception takes place

when an ax breaks something on the heart

闷: /men/ depressed whenever your heart is

shut behind a door

忌:/ji/ jealousy implies

       there being one’s self only in the heart

悲:/bei/ sorrow comes

        from the negation of the heart

惑:/huo/ confusion occurs

when there are too many an ‘or’ over the heart

忠:/zhong/ loyalty remains

as long as the heart is kept right at the center

恥:/chi/ shame is the feel

      you get when your ear conflicts with your heart

怒: /nu/ anger influxes when slavery

   rises from above the heart

愁: /chou/ worry thickens as autumn

sits high on your heart

忍:/ren/to tolerate is to bear a knife

straightly above your heart

忘: /wang/ forgetting happens

      when there’s death on heart

意: /yi/ meaning is defined as

a sound over the heart

思: /si/ thought takes place

    within the field of heart

恩: /en/ kindness is

       a reliance on the heart

Yuan Changming

Yuan Changming edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Yuan in Vancouver. Credits include Pushcart nominations, poetry awards & publications in Best of the Best Canadian Poetry (2008-17) & BestNewPoemsOnline, among 1,689 others worldwide.

Previous
Archangels of Childhood
Next
Snowy Owl