Author of the Month: Chun Yu

BIO: Chun Yu is the author of the award-winning memoir in free verse Little Green: Growing Up During the Chinese Cultural Revolution (Simon & Schuster) and a graphic novel in progress Emperor Poets (Macmillan) etc. Her poetry has been published in the award-winning collection Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace (Koa Books) and the poetry anthology Open Doors (Chaparral Canyon Press) etc. Chun has also been published in the Boston Herald, Xinhua Daily, Konch, Poem of the Day (San Francisco Public Library), MiGoZine, Catamaran, Orion (forthcoming) and others. She is a recipient of a San Francisco Arts Commission Cultural Equity Grant for her bilingual poetry and an Individual Artist Grant for her graphic novel project on Chinese-American immigration experiences. Her project Two Languages / One Community, with poet Michael Warr, brings Chinese-American and African-American communities together through poetry and storytelling. She is an honoree of the YBCA 100 award (2020) of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Chun holds a BS and MS (Peking University) and a PhD (Rutgers University) in chemistry. She was a postdoctoral fellow in a Harvard-MIT joint program. She is a scientist, an art curator, and a tango dancer. Her website www.chunyu.org.

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If There is No If

If there is no if

all the dreams will wither 

like blooming flowers framed 

in a drying field.

If there is no if

all the stories will freeze 

like waterfalls fallen

into a sudden ice age.

If there is no if

the mind will darken 

like a painted cave buried 

on the broken Silk Road.

If there is no if 

the heart will mummify

like a lotus seed hidden 

in a weathered pyramid —

waiting to be planted again

in the mud of life.

***

 

If I Already Forgave You

If I already forgave you,

what would life be?

With the innocence of a toddler

I would look up to you between my first steps,

and smile —

amazed by your existence

at each sight of you;

amazed by my ability

to reach you on my own.

I would just walk to you with that smile 

and no clouds in my heart.

Clear as the blue sky —

I know you are the one, 

the only one I would walk to

with no other purpose in the world.

If I just forgive you, forgive each of you,

and forgive myself —

I would just walk, walk towards you,

from moment to moment,

I would walk through life, 

already and always

in love.

***

The Egg

In the egg

We once each resided

We were perfect —

Wholesome

Safe and free

Safe

From intentions

Still concealed

Free 

From risks

Yet to be taken

Until 

The dome of perfection

Broke —

What was hatched 

Could no longer

Be contained

The wings would 

Inevitably grow

Taking to 

The sky, terrifyingly

Open

Each direction

A risk for a mistake

Where courage is born

***

The Gold Miner

You walk against the flow

dredging through mud 

grasping sparkly grains

call it achievement.

You stand in the flow

sieving through sand

finding shiny pieces

call it happiness.

You follow the flow

feeling through the water

stumbling upon glowing nuggets

call it wisdom.

Finally content

with what you’ve gathered

you sit by the river

watching it flow 

mesmerized 

as the weight of gold 

evaporates 

into thin air

……

until you are awakened

as if from a dream

by a newcomer, eager and hopeful

fresh and transparent like a morning dew

who shyly inquires about 

the river, and gold…

to whom you have nothing to show

but your words

that there is gold

to whom you have nothing to offer 

but your sieve

which has withstood 

the flow of

endless sand and mud.

***

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Setu, Febuary 2021