Arc Of A Holiday (Yan Li) Poem by Denis Mair

by Yan Li
(translated by D Mair)

Colors burst in all directions from fireworks
Then arc down along the sky's spine
People looking up are in an aesthetic rut
So they tilt in the direction of sweetness
Till their hearts' teeth are decayed by fantasy candy

Along the spine of the sky
Fireworks keep narrating the curvature of a holiday
Among the revelers I look down at my own shoes
They are of an individual size
A segment of solitude snipped from the crowd

The sparkling moment of fireworks
Abstracts everything that was concrete
In my waking state I wake up further
The sky's spine presses on my spine
There is no crack left for fireworks to squeeze through