Alternating Current, either Turbulent or Serene



On the beach, you asked the man in grayish windbreaker:
 ‘How do you define ‘The Will’?’
He drew a sine-wave with his finger in the sand, then wiped it away
With waves at his command. A capful of vinegar, and seething calories of vegetables
In your stomach, turning and burning, gave you the illusion
Of snakes slithering away somewhere behind. Last night on your way home,

There was a repeat of the scene, in which she refused to allow you
To touch her rain-drenched violin. ‘Keep your distance, am I clear?
Only one of the strings is the zero line, you just can’t tell which!’ She smiled weirdly
And ran upstairs. The string which snapped during the performance
Dragged along behind her, was as thick as a towrope. Confused, standing still there,

You tossed a coin into the air, and heard it
Droning fast, with strong and weak beats, alternating,
A downpour and a floodoverflowing in different directions.
Fourteen days are needed to dry your nets, and clear
All water-level data. Landforms, temperature, light from above

And your masculinity, will be turned inside out like a coat
On the other side of the globe.
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Submitted by catherineink on May 26, 2016

Modified on March 14, 2023

59 sec read
86

Quick analysis:

Scheme AXXXXX XAXXA XXXAX XX
Closest metre Iambic octameter
Characters 1,125
Words 198
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 6, 5, 5, 2

Xiaoyuan Yin

Chief protagonist of encyclopedic poetry writing in China, advocate of hermaphroditical characteristics in poetic creation. Epic Poet, author of 18 long narrative poems (up to 70 thousand lines) and 12 other series (physics, chemistry, biology, geography, geology, psychology, calligraphy, photography, musicology, geometry, atmospheric science, and information sciences) . Member of Translators Association of China and the Poetry Institute of China. Winner of the Best International Translator for 2008 of IPTRC, andthe Prize for Distinguished Translator in the 4th World Poetry Prizes Sponsored by Dr. Choi Laisheung. Editor of several official poetry magazines. Over two thousand poetic works have been published in Ottawa Weekend, North American Maple (Canada) , Aust Cai Hong Ying(Australian) , New World Poetry (U.S.A.) , Tong Hua Daily News(Tailand) , China Daily, Global Times, and various magazines in China. more…

All Xiaoyuan Yin poems | Xiaoyuan Yin Books

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