Close to the Heart: Learning the Chinese Characters


怒: anger influxes when slavery eclipses the heart
愁: worry thickens as autumn sits high on the heart
闷: depression settles when the heart is shut behind a door
忘: forgetting happens when there’s death on the heart
忍: to tolerate is to bear a knife above your heart
思: thought is what takes place in the field of the heart
意: meaning is defined as a sound reverberating inside the heart

Yuan Changming published monographs on translation before leaving his native country. Currently, Yuan edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Qing Yuan in Vancouver. His credits include ten Pushcart nominations, eight chapbooks, and publications in Best of the Best Canadian Poetry (2008-17) & Best New Poems Online, among others.