5 poems || Changming Yuan

In Times Like This

No good news is news.

News, news is no good.

Is no news good news?

Good news is no news.

News is no good news.

Allen in Wonderland

Qucheng

Homerburgh

Dantefield

Shakespeareston

Goethestadt

Pushkingrad

Baudelaireville

Nerudastad

Frostdale

Tagorerboro

Will

Wit

With

Withe

Wither

Withers

Or

Withers

Wither

Withe

With

Wit?

The Confucian Knowledge: A Parallel Poem

Only you know, you only know, you know only

When you know that you know

When you know that you know not

You need to know when you know not that you know

You know that you know not when you know not

Or you know not that you know not when you know not

Static Statistics Suggested

17:        the number of muscles you use to smile

43:        the number of muscles you use to frown

            --why not smile more often?

50:        your weight in kg on earth

1390:    your weight in kg on sun

            --why try to lose or gain weight?

206:      the number of bones in an adult’s body

350:      the number of bones in an infant’s body

            --is that why children are less stubborn?

8:         the number of cents worth of gold in a human body

50:        the number of tons of gold dissolved in one cubic kilometer of seawater

            --is this the reason for all human poverty?