In December 2022, Pancouver introduced readers to Cathy Xinman, a B.C. resident who writes poems in English and Chinese. Xinman is also a screenwriter who was honoured with a golden statuette at the San Francisco International New Concept Film Festival in 2023, as well as the Remi Bronze Award for Dramatic Film Screenplay at the Houston International Film Festival in 2024.
Below, you can read her English-language poem “But by Choice”, which was inspired by the U.S. launching a tariff fight with Canada.
But by Choice
He goes to a Canadian grocery store,
He sees people looking at all the labels.
Their eyes trace the fine print,
holding a promise—
that their baskets do not bow
to a neighbour’s weight.
Numbers sharpen like knives,
tariffs carve lines
on hearts that once beat in rhythm
with a shared harvest.
Yesterday, they traveled around the world.
They bought grapes from Chile,
coconut water from Thailand,
oranges from Morocco,
bananas from Guatemala,
and lots of other products from Canada.
Not a single product from their once-closest ally
in their grocery cart—
not by accident, not by chance,
but by choice.
