ISSUE THREE: December, 2019

FRAGMENTED: A SONNET IN INFINITIVES

by YUAN CHANGMING

To be a matter when there’s no question
Or not to be a question when nothing really matters

To sing with a frog squatting straight
On a lotus leaf in the Honghu Lake near Jingzhou

    To recollect all the pasts, and mix them
Together like a glass of cocktail

To build a nest of meaning 
Between two broken branches on Ygdrasil 

To strive for deity
Longevity and 
Even happiness

To come on and off line every other while

To compress consciousness into a file, and upload it
    Onto a nanochip

     To be dying, to die

YUAN CHANGMING published monographs on translation before leaving his native country. Currently, Yuan lives in Vancouver, where he edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Qing Yuan. Credits include ten Pushcart nominations, Best of the Best Canadian Poetry (2008-17) and BestNewPoemsOnline, among others.