When his mother came to visit his family
From the other side of this world, Michael
Took her to Banff for the sight of blue glaciers
In Columbia Icefield, a tour among Rockies
Massive, mighty, magnificent as the human mind
Some looking like castles in a nightmare
Some like Titanics among icebergs
Others like the haunches of dragons, Chinese
Or otherwise, fighting on an ocean at dusk
How come the trees are all so small. Are they
Man-planted? Mother asked. No, because
Of the harshest climatic conditions here, they
Have only a couple of weeks to grow in a year
Explained the tour guide, when Michael’s mind
Was wondering in the more wintry wildness
Near northern lights, where he could see
Neither rocks nor mountains, where a single
Flake turned his thought into blue glacier
Yuan Changming, nine-time Pushcart and one-time Best of Net nominee, published monographs on translation before moving out of China. With a Canadian PhD in English, Yuan currently edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Yuan in Vancouver; credits include Best of Best Canadian Poetry (2008-17), BestNewPoemsOnline, Threepenny Review and 1319 others across 40 countries.
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