Migration of the Mind
some squatting among thorny bushes
some scrawling along a burying tunnel
some suffocating below the rusty waterline
some trudging on a simmering desert
much running in a dark rainforest
much struggling in a stormy sea
much prisoning in a sealed moving cage
much threatening from fists
cudgels, knives, bullets and
more gnawing of my inwards
by insults in addition to injuries
but with no need for passports or visas
i have kept fleeing
flying up towards the golden sun
like a wish-winged migrant bird
leaving my heavy shadow
far behind
****
Changming Yuan, author of Chansons of a Chinaman and 4-time Pushcart nominee, grew up in rural China and published several monographs before moving to North America. With a Canadian PhD in English, Yuan currently teaches in Vancouver and has had poetry appearing in 430 literary publications across 18 countries, including Asia Literary Review, Barrow Street, Best Canadian Poetry, BestNewPoemsOnline, London Magazine, Numinous, Poetry Kanto, Poetry Salzburg and Taj Mahal Review.
