Self-Addressing: A Bilinguacultural Poem by Yuan Changming
In English, the speaker always uses
A proper pronoun to address self
In Chinese, the speaker calls self
More than one hundred different names
In E, there is a distinction between
The subject and object case of self
In C, there is no change in writing
Be it a subject or an object
In E, the writer spells self with one
Single straight capitalized letter
In C, the writer adds to the character
‘Pursuit’ a stroke symbolizing something
In E, “I” ask for democracy, freedom
Individuality, rule of law, among others
In C, “我” is habitually avoided in making
A reply, either in writing or in speaking
Yuan Changming grew up in an impoverished village, began learning English at age 19, and published monographs on translation in China. HIs work has appeared in the Best of the Best Canadian Poetry, BestNewPoemsOnline, and Poetry Daily. He served on the poetry jury for Canada’s 2021 National Magazine Awards and began writing and publishing fiction in 2022. He lives in Vancouver where he edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Yuan.
