Fragments
If I lend my soul-shaded mind
To the other me in the mirror
Then I would become a human
Reflection of my authentic being
Long and abstract is this process
To relocate my lukewarm soul
In a world of engulfing glass
Its cold surface is all its bold depth
Let me be as careful as I can
Not to break this spirited mirror
Or I would be cut to blood
By the sharp shreds of selfhood
Changming Yuan grew up in rural China and authored three books before moving to Canada. Currently Yuan teaches writing in Vancouver and has had about 200 poems published or forthcoming in literary journals, which include the Dalhousie Review, Descant, Exquisite Corpse, the London Magazine, Rampike, Sentence, and Vallum.