Live Encounters Poetry & Writing January 2026.
Shades of the Name, poems by Anna Yin.
Shades of the Name
The Passengers of Life
In the end, we are all life’s passengers.
In the end, the river within me will disappear.
In the end, I will no longer call your name.
In the end, we choose oblivion.
Forgetting is a kind of fortune,
when there is still time—
forgetting the sunlight of spring,
forgetting snowy winter nights,
forgetting every poem I have written
and every song in my heart.
Forgetting how far the horizon is,
forgetting how cold the ocean feels,
forgetting the language of flowers in dreams,
forgetting the world shaped by words.
All that is forgettable—
we are a pair of protons:
when one disappears,
the other drifts
through the void.
Pain
If snow could soften your pain,
let its whiteness cover the world.
If rain could carry sorrow away,
let its clear falling cleanse the land.
If blossoms could soothe you,
let their fragrance drift in your dreams.
If this poem could feel your ache,
let it offer all the comfort can hold.
If I were a bird, I would fly to you.
If I were a fish, I would swim to you.
But I am only a poet—
my lines are heartbeats.
They cannot cross seas or mountains,
yet they beat the same rhythm with yours.
Anna Yin was born in China and immigrated to Canada in 1999. She served as Mississauga’s Inaugural Poet Laureate (2015–17) and as the Ontario representative for the League of Canadian Poets (2013–16). Anna is the author of seven poetry collections, including Breaking Into Blossom (Frontenac Press, 2025), and four books of translations, most notably Mirrors and Windows (Guernica Editions, 2021). Anna has received numerous honours, including the 2005 Ted Plantos Memorial Award, the MARTY Awards (2011, 2014, 2025), two U.S. scholarships, and grants from both the Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts.
Her works have appeared in Queen’s Quarterly, ARC Poetry, The New York Times, China Daily, CBC Radio, Literary Review of Canada, and elsewhere. She has performed on Parliament Hill, at the Austin International Poetry Festival, the Edmonton Poetry Festival, and at universities across China, Canada, and the United States. Since 2011, Anna has designed and led her Poetry Alive educational programs while also working in IT. In 2021, she founded SureWay Press to promote cultural exchange through translation, editing, and publishing services. https://www.surewaypress.com/en/