You Need Light

 

by Changming Yuan

 

Yes, you do need night

When darkness engulfs half

Of the world, and makes you pause

 

For you need a stable universe of time

To reflect on light that guides you

Through the unseen, as through your thoughts

 

Surely, in this black and heavy stillness

You can see the brilliant colours

Above the entire season, you may even dream

 

Here you can dissolve into a big whole

Like yin and yang, to nail your souls into

Each other’s flesh, to gain strength

 

Yes, you simply need night

For you need this unique reality of our world

To pause, to recover, to discover

 

Bio: Changming Yuan, 5-time Pushcart nominee and author of Chansons of a Chinaman (2009) and Landscaping (2013), grew up in rural China but currently tutors in Vancouver, where he co-edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Qing Yuan. With a PhD in English, Yuan has recently been interviewed by [PANK], and had poetry appearing in Best Canadian Poetry (2009; 12), BestNewPoemsOnline, Exquisite Corpse, London Magazine, Threepenny Review and 739 other literary journals/anthologies across 28 countries.