image: Mwakesi Mwakale                             

Immigrating
Yuan Changming

Walking around
the corner of a back lane,
I used to carry my Arabian identity
as carefully as if it were a big piece
of glass, through which I could see
others or myself, only if I chose
to do so.
But on a hasty afternoon
I tripped down, and
smashed it into hundreds of
small and sharp pieces. Since then,
my shredded selfhood has become a big
public nuisance, a traffic hazard
as it glistens glaringly under the sun, cutting
tires or human feet, from time to time.

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Yuan Changming, 8-time Pushcart nominee and author of 5 chapbooks, is the most widely published poetry author who speaks Mandarin and writes in English: since 2005, he has had poetry appearing in Best Canadian Poetry, BestNewPoemsOnline, Kwani?, London Magazine, New Coin, Rowayat, Saraba Magazine, The Threepenny Review and 1069 others across 36 countries.  With a PhD in English, Yuan currently edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Qing Yuan in Vancouver.