Live Encounters Poetry & Writing September 2024
For Katherine L Gordon, poems by Anna Yin.
For Katherine L. Gordon
I shall come to meet you in autumn,
in the garden you have tended with care,
listening to your Cosmic Chorus with awe.
My summer pockets are full of forget-me-nots cherished by you,
each petal is a new flashcard questioning war and peace
each flower is an old sad song, mourning this fractured Earth.
On my daily walks, I ponder the muse in your mind
and wonder how your awareness turns bittersweet.
I imagine the door I will knock at is what I knew,
for our ancestors have shared the same journey not alone——
seeing wild geese come and go,
dreaming of stars shooting and falling.
I will come to meet you in autumn,
before the first frost and nightfall.
When leaves turn red and wing to earth
we will catch their inner light and flame
to let the Cosmic Chorus rise once more.
Notes:
Awareness is Katherine L. Gordon and James Deahl’s forthcoming book
Cosmic Chorus & Forget-me-nots are poems by Ms. Gordon.
The Beauty of Friendship
Here in my back yard in Mississauga, Canada,
a young tree is loaded with green apples,
summer sky drifting with white clouds…
I look through photos from Kariya, Japan:
The Ferris Wheel, the Floral Garden,
“The Mando” parade and cherry blossoms
In red, white and pink, then
the nine-meter-high Maple Leaf
in Mississauga Park there
lit up in changing colors at night.
In my hands are gifts from friends
I have newly met in our city’s Asian twin:
handmade book marks, tiny folded fans,
beautiful Japanese calligraphies with landscapes,
floral fabric and stylish volumes of 俳句 (haiku)…
My heart is full of gratitude.
I remember Stephanie, former president of MFA
shared her exciting oriental experiences in Kariya
when we ran into each other at the Living Arts Center
for Mississauga’s next 50 years.
It was she who warmly connected me with Yumiko Naito,
a gracious representative from KIFA
who made my new eastward cultural exchange possible.
What did I bring to Kariya, our twin city?
Arts from local artists about our city’s scenery,
maple syrups and chocolates, green tea,
books of Canadian poetry
and my sincere heart with a learning mind.
I recall Joy Kogawa’s poem “Where There’s a Wall”,
I remember the hundred cherry trees from Kariya
donated to our city for peace and friendship…
I am convinced that art and cultural exchanges are bridges
for truth, friendship and harmony…
And now, as I survey the photos and writings between our twin cities,
I perceive we have all reaped a rich harvest of gifts.
Notes:
KIFA as Kiraya International friendship association (Japan)
MFA as Mississauga Friendship Association (Canada)
© 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 three 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, Danver Quarterly, Epoch Quarterly. She read on Parliament Hill, at Austin International Poetry Festival, Edmonton Poetry Festival and universities in China, Canada and USA etc. She teaches Poetry Alive and started her own small press: Sureway Press for translating, editing and publishing or other cultural exchange services. Her new poetry collection: Truth in Slant will be published by Frontenac House in 2025.