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Poetry fans, today the spotlight turns to Yucheng Tao, whose moving poems are sure to please. Yucheng shares "They Came" (previously published by Cathexis Northwest Press), "Arrival Before the Rose Dream Ends" (previously published by Wild Court), and "Under the Winter Sky of Nanjing, Shiva Danced." Thank you, Yucheng, for sharing your work with SHINE! They Came Tuol Sleng like a poisonous flower exhaling a piercing venom. The palm trees swayed beneath the faltering shadow, a procession of bones --the dead-- labeled as intellectuals. They came like a gust of wind, They came like a herd of wild beasts. They came slaughter upon slaughter, cursing Tuol Sleng, damning its streets and rivers. They regarded themselves as fanatical idealists, But never, made the place a paradise. Passion torched it into a fiery hell. They came with frantic lusts. They came to Cambodia-- its flesh drenched in rouge. When Tuol Sleng opened, Moonlight buried people in a sunken pit of earth. None to cry those words: "They came!" Editor's Note: Tuol Sleng Museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, commemorates the victims of genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge government, circa 1975-79. Arrival Before the Rose Dream Ends He says he’ll arrive in Portland tomorrow. It’s his turn to pay-- In the silence before the restaurant opens, he arrives early. A self-serve hot pot, steam rising to fend off winter. The union of dead volcanoes and roses, perfect in his mind-- a scene from an Italian art film, woven into the hum of lobby music. A couple pick their ingredients. A spoon stirs the sauce, like jam stirred by love. As dusk settles, the girl arrives and whispers something behind him. He answers, “It’s nothing.” He pays the bill this time and next time. Months later, in a dream, the dead volcano erupts, swallowing the roses, swallowing his life. The next morning, the news reports-- a young man in a Portland apartment, kissed by death. He lies on a bed of roses, silent as a dead volcano. Under the Winter Sky of Nanjing, Shiva Danced “Lord Shiva does not care about human suffering. Shiva’s dance starts in a frenzy, whirling through 1937.” Soft soil / scattered with bones, submerges beneath time / Violent laughter joins them / Young girls elude fresh tombs, learn to disguise themselves / as muddy-faced boys, dodging Type-38 bayonets / hunting their wombs / Elders wisely modify mazes / in tunnels, emerge like pangolins / at secret intersections, craft telegrams / into riddles / Arms break on the ground, like full stops / bearing the mark of Shiva’s dance, assimilating darkness into the weeds / I am the only survivor, find my breath / in the soil of the mass grave / In this dark winter / only the burst blood of the dead stays warm. Only the Destroyer — Shiva, neither laughs / nor cries, his footsteps crush every inch of this scorched land / In the pit of death / what can one do? / The invading army destroys homes / Shiva destroys everything when people are cowardly / I, as a human, cry in this moment, wondering how to mourn the dead.  Yucheng Tao is a Chinese international student based in Los Angeles, where he studies songwriting. His work has appeared in Wild Court（UK), The Lake（UK), Red Ogre Review (UK), Aloka Magazine（UK), Cathexis Northwest Press, and NonBinary Review, where he was also interviewed. He was named a semifinalist for the Winds of Asia Award by Kinsman Quarterly. His work has been featured in over twenty journals, including Apocalypse Confidential, The Arcanist, Waymark Literary Magazine, Yellow Mama, The Mixtape Review, Down In the Dirt, Academy of the Heart, AIien Buddha Press, Ink Nest, Piker Press, Synchronized Chaos, Spillwords, Poetry Potion, Literary Yard, The Creativity Webzine, Moonstone Art Center, Wingless Dreamer, and Authorspress.
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SHINE - International Poetry Series
From the international poetry community, we have a "luxury of stars," as Sylvia Plath might say, and it is my honor to provide a home for their words through SHINE Poetry Series.
NOW IN PRINT!
Stars Over the Dordogne
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