Three Poems

By Yuan Changming

Conquering Covid: the Year of Double Twenty

Turns out high time for all to stand still, as
I stay at home every day, trying to find
How to hold my stream of consciousness

& a ship floats around beyond the harbor
Anchoring itself among sharks and whales
Swimming against dark blue undercurrents

There is also a fully loaded truck parked
By the roadside, like an old thought lost
In a heavy traffic held up long at twilight

& airplanes perching amidst the trees. There is
An unmasked woman in the adjacent house
Siting motionlessly, as if pondering whether

To reset her clock, like a lonely traveler
Hesitating which road to take, or God Him-
Self pausing to reset Earth on a new orbit

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

Starting supposedly from Wuhan, the capital city of my native province, where I happened to stay as a visitor in October 2019, Covid-19 has undoubtedly become the most politicized virus/de-ease in human history, which will keep plaguing us as a species for God knows how long. Personally among the most vulnerable in every sense, I have inevitably had many near-infection encounters. Ready as I am for the killing villain, I wish to say this to all those who will survive: Overly politicized, we are bound to fall; somewhat pacified, we may continue to stand.