In December 2022, Pancouver introduced readers to Cathy Xinman, a B.C. resident who writes poems in English and Chinese. Below, you can read one of her English-language poems, “New Year, Let Me Bring Wine to Your Lips”.
New Year, Let Me Bring Wine to Your Lips
Joy, my beloved,
I give you my all,
Loving you with all my heart and soul.
Wounded humanity,
Let innocent flowers welcome them.
The sun comes out in the morning.
I stretch out my ordinary eyes.
The crowded woods
On the rough tree trunks
Attract me to touch its abundant years.
Joy, may you bless
This land stands pure.
I come from all corners of the world,
To this sacred soil,
Using my dawn-lit eyes
To seek the treasures of the human heart.
Now, the new light has arrived.
New Year, let me bring wine to your lips.
Your ode and my poetry set sail together.
The spring I love
Is gold, is diamond.
The resounding songs I love
Are the blue skies, the beaches.
Let me come close to your lips.
Let me blush like a beauty,
Let the sun blush too.
Let blooming smiles flourish in human hearts.
Let poets craft every verse—
It is love, comfort, fragrance, and joy.
Cathy Xinman’s English-language collection is entitled Where You Love Yourself. Follow Pancouver on Instagram @PancouverMedia.
