Anna Yin – La Mer

Yin LE P&W 4 Nov-Dec 2024

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Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Four November-December 2024

La Mer, poems by Anna Yin.


La Mer

Sailing freely and wildly in the moonlight
I am greeted by the silver-scattered sea
I become your naked pretty bride
on white blossoms of waves

The wind carries the salty scent
lashes my pale skin over and over
with cold greetings and hot warnings

Night elongates my pale shadow
clouds erase illusions of my mind
urging me to halt and listen

the serenity of green?
the romance of blue?
the profundity of darkness…

Listen, the shattering of glass
the collapse of coral
the teardowns of a bridal gown…

Awaken with a start
an empty sea shell in my hand—
a voyage not yet taken
a pearl gown not yet tried


Dearly

—after Margaret Atwood

The dream arrives unexpectedly
with dear messages
too dear to share.

In the morning air,
sparrows perch in your garden
chirping strange melodies.
Is it spring fever or an affair?
Honeybees approaching
make no sound…

Your apple tree starts to bloom.
You read fresh fragrance,
inked leaves whisper “Remember”.

The sunlight shifts distinct shades,
you see letters
each memorable,
echoing a song
from your dearest lovers.


Emerald Moments

after brief rain
a rainbow over
the Grand River

above the mountain
a red balloon rises
no string attached

winding trail
behind a haunted house
calls from goldfinches

on the sunset lake
a snowy egret takes off
another within sight

fog lifts
a thrush’s song
through the woods

maple trees in Autum
along the Bruce trail
Thomson’s vibrant paintings


© Anna Yin

Anna Yin was born in China and immigrated to Canada in 1999. She was Mississauga’s Inaugural Poet Laureate (2015-17) and Ontario representative for the League of Canadian Poets (2013-16). She has authored six poetry collections and four books of translations including Mirrors and Windows (Guernica Editions 2021). Anna won the 2005 Ted Plantos Memorial Award, two MARTYs, two scholarships from USA and grants from Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. Her poems/translations have appeared at Queen’s Quarterly, ARC Poetry, New York Times, China Daily, CBC Radio, Literary Review of Canada etc.

She read on Parliament Hill, at Austin International Poetry Festival, Edmonton Poetry Festival and universities in China, Canada and USA etc. She has designed and taught Poetry Alive educational programs since 2011 along with her daily IT job. In 2021, she started her own small press: surewaypress.com for her translating, editing and publishing services. Her 11th book will be published by Frontenac Press in 2025. https://www.annapoetry.com/books/

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