Infinitival Infinities: 

A Sonnet in Fragments

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 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 nomochip
 
                    To be                daying, to                            die

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Clefting

By Yuan Changming

Between two high notes
the melody opens a crack
long enough
to allow my entire selfhood to enter
like a fish jumping back
into the night water
 
Both the fish and I leave no
trace behind us, and the world
remains undisturbed as we swim
deeper and deeper in blue silence
 
Upon my return, I find the music
still going on, while the fish has
disappeared into the unknown

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Yuan Changming  grew up in rural China, started to learn the English alphabet in Shanghai at age 19, and published monographs on translation before leaving his native country. With a Canadian PhD in English, Yuan currently 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), BestNewPoemsOnline, and publications in over 1,500 other literary outlets across 42 countries.