Live Encounters Poetry & Writing July 2025
Fiction, poems by Yuan Fan.
Translated from Chinese by Anna Yin.
Fiction
A few pages quivering in the dusk, time
begins to wrinkle where Ink stains
A comma lingering at the end of a sentence
an unfinished sigh
Beneath a table, the yellowed Novel Monthly lies —
Stories stretch; vines grow tendrils from memory’s cracks
invented rain drips from the eaves of reality, I
lower my head, take my leave…
We once sought our own shadows
in others’ plots
until closing the book, we discovered
we were the more beautiful chapter
yet unwritten…
小说
几页纸在黄昏里轻轻颤动，墨迹
经过的地方，时间开始褶皱
一个逗号在句末徘徊
像未完成的叹息
桌下发黄的小说月报，故事在生长
记忆开裂处，藤蔓伸出次生根
虚构的雨水淌下现实的屋檐，我
低下头，然后出走……
我们曾在别人的情节里
寻找自己的影子
直到合上书页，才发现
自己原来是更好看的
未写出的章回……
Ordinary
When young, I feared being ordinary, feared
a life like an ant’s,
like a pendulum’s listless swing,
like a fallen leaf, silent and unseen,
like rivers clouded with silt.
Halfway through life, I’ve come to understand—
ordinary is not so bad.
Ordinary enough to kiss her forehead
or lips without hesitation.
Ordinary enough to savor the quiet joy
of cooking a good meal for each other.
Ordinary enough to find delight in a bargain well-struck,
to take pride in holding my ground, yielding nothing of true worth.
Not to mention discovering wildflowers
blooming around my house,
beholding my freedom to distinguish
beauty from ugliness, to stay awake and aware.
Not to mention carefree thoughts—
breaking through and reaching beyond the horizon.
Not to mention retaining virtue—
a great vessel upon the ocean of fleeting lives.
平凡
年少时害怕平凡 害怕
蝼蚁一生
像钟摆
像无声的落叶
像那些脏了的河水
半生走过 才知道
平凡挺好的
平凡到可以不必躲闪地亲吻
她的额头或嘴唇
平凡到尝得出彼此
为对方炒出一盘好菜的快意
平凡到为好价钱买到好东西开心 也为
绝不出让某些东西沾沾自喜
更不用说 发现
房前屋后开出了野花 拥有
辨识美丑的自由和清醒
也不用说 思想
随时可以破土而出伸向天空
不用说 德行
可以在众生蜉蝣的海上成巨轮……
© Yuan Fan
Yuan Fan: poet, poetry activist, and pioneer of poetic expression through sound and visual art. Member of the Chinese Poetry Society, partner of Reading Poetry for You, and former vice president of the Jiangsu Province Recitation Association. A global traveler and explorer of life’s poetic essence.
Anna Yin was Mississauga’s Inaugural Poet Laureate (2015-17) and has authored seven poetry collections including the recent “Breaking into Blossom” (Frontenac House 2025) and four books of translations. 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 teaches Poetry Alive.